Nezumi 12
by Princess Star Neko
Summary: -FB!R1/2 Crossover!AU- Seventeen years ago a young widow ran away from the Sohma household, taking with her a secret that no one else in her family knew about. Traveling to China she died giving birth to a healthy baby boy with a curse.
1. Prologue: Far From Home

**_Disclaimers:_** As much as I may ___want_ to claim ownership of these two productions, I can't because both **_Fruits Basket_** and **_Ranma ½_** belong to a whole lot of different companies that I can't remember the names of at the moment. Any characters that appear in this fic that are not a part of either original series, belong to me so don't take them without asking first.

**_Author's Notes:_** Two things that ___everyone_ should know is that the ___new_ Yuki _**won't**_ have that asthma problem that he had in the original series; I've ___heard_ about the latest news involving Akito ___really_ being a ___girl_ in the comic, but I'm ___leaving_ him as a _**guy**_, because I ___need_ _**male**_ Akito for what I ___already_ have planned for this story, long before the latest info involving Akito's true gender came out, thus I'm not in the mood to change my well laid out plans because of a technicality that took the magna _**97**_ chapters to reveal itself.

**_Summary:_** Seventeen years ago, a young widow ran away from the Sohma household, taking with her a secret that no one else in her family knew about. Traveling to China she died giving birth to a healthy baby boy with a curse, while staying in the village of the Joketsu Amazons.

**Glossary:**   
" " Chinese   
" " Japanese   
_italics_ Thoughts

**Nezumi ½**   
Prologue: Far From Home   
By: Princess Star Neko   


China, 17 years ago

_Nine more weeks little one, and I'll be holding you in my arms._ Hikari Masaki-Sohma thought happily, as she sat underneath a tree, enjoying the feel of the sun as it beat down on her, as a gentle breeze blew through her hair, resting a hand on her stomach.

_I haven't written in my journal today. Might as well start now while I have a moment of piece until it's time to go,_ Hikari thought after a few minutes she reached for her backpack and pulled out a leather bound book and pen, opened the book to a blank page and started writing about that days events.

_...the tour bus stopped on the edge of a valley called Jusenkyo. It's a beautiful place from what I can see, with the springs. The guide who works here says that Jusenkyo is called the Land of Sorrow, supposedly because the springs are cursed..._

At the mention of curses, Hikari got a faraway look in her eyes, as she glanced down at her enlarged stomach, as she rested a hand on it, feeling the life growing.

Hikari had been traveling to different countries for six and a half months since the death of her husband, traveling everywhere that she could, finally able to fulfill her life long dream of traveling the world, before she had married into the Sohma clan.

She had met Miroku Sohma in College, and it had been love at first sight for the two of them. Miroku had been the rebel in the Sohma family, as well as the younger brother to the current head of the family, Naraku Sohma, and knowing how his brother would react to him bringing an outsider into the family, so the two of them married in secret and returned to the Sohma household when Hikari was already two months pregnant with Ayame.

Being Naraku's younger brother, Miroku had been able to get away with anything, because Naraku had loved Miroku despite their differences. Like his predecessors, Naraku had been born with the Juunishi curse. But unlike the others who shared the curse, he didn't turn into an animal, but was cursed to be the 'god' of the Juunishi, leaving him constantly sick and weak and prone to anger at almost anything he took a disliking to, and also was cursed to die at an early age.

It was known by everyone in the household, that when Naraku died, Miroku would have become the new head of the family if Naraku had been unable to produce an heir, or be acting head until Naraku's child was old enough to take the role.

Despite how Naraku treated everyone else in the family, including their own mother, he treated Miroku nicer than the rest, and let him get away with everything including disobeying his commands without punishment.

Even when Miroku had brought her home that first time eleven years ago to introduce her to the family, Naraku had been all smiles when Miroku introduced her to the family, but Hikari could see the growing anger hidden deep in Naraku's eyes, as he stared directly at her, as if he were personally blaming her for his brothers actions.

If it hadn't been for Ayame's birth, she didn't know what would have happened. Even after discovering the family secret of the Juunishi curses, she hadn't turned away from Ayame at his birth when he was revealed to have the spirit of the snake in him.

Even after the past eleven years since she had married into the Sohma clan, she had felt like an outcast among them. Even though she had tried to fit in with the family, she had to always been too different in their eyes.

She wasn't willing to let anyone, especially the head of the family, Naraku Sohma, order her around, despite the fact that everyone else seemed to fear him. She had to watch her step around the head of the family or risk his wrath, and even before her son was born she hadn't been included in ___any_ of the family celebrations, having had to stay home alone while Miroku reluctantly attended the celebrations by himself.

She had been completely miserable living in the Sohma home, as everyone avoided her. The few people she had been able to befriend in the household, shunned her because Naraku said they had to because ___he_ considered her an outsider who couldn't be trusted, and would have been kicked out sooner if it wasn't for Miroku standing by her side.

Even after living with that family for the past ten years as she raised Ayame alongside with Miroku, and proving more than once that she could be trusted, she had still been shunned by the family. The few Souma's that she had managed to befriend during her first two years in the household had quickly abandoned her because they were afraid of making Naraku angry.

The last girl to disregard his orders concerning Hikari had been beaten within an inch of her life by Naraku himself when she had been found out, causing her to be sent to the hospital.

The last straw came at Miroku's funeral, when she heard Miroku's mother, talking about her with some other family members during the service...

* * *

Flashback, Seven months ago 

Hikari Sohma sat in a lawn chair in the Sohma family cemetery as the pastor gave the last rights to her husband. It been over a week since the car accident that had taken the life of her beloved Miroku, and she felt more alone than ever now that he was gone.

_I can't believe he's really gone._ Hikari thought sadly to herself as she looked around at the rest of her husband's family, seeing the pitying looks they shot her way as they all paid their last respects to one of their own.

As she sat in silence, she couldn't help but overhear the conversation going on amongst the other members of the Sohma household as they talked about what they were going to do with her and Ayame now that Miroku was dead.

"...Look at her. Looking calm and serene as always. She didn't even cry during the funeral. I don't know what Miroku saw in a girl like her." A matronly woman said as she cast a dark look at Hikari's back. "For shame!"

Hikari stiffened at those words. She recognized the voice as belonging to her mother-in-law. The older woman had taken an instant dislike to her new daughter-in-law the since the day Miroku had brought her home.

_Annoying old biddies aren't even waiting for Miroku-kun to be cold in his grave,_ Hikari thought angrily to herself, as she looked at the gossiping older women out of the corner of her eyes, as sadness filled her at the loneliness she felt in family gathering, _I've been crying since Miroku's death, that I don't think I can cry anymore tears now even if I wanted to._ she thought with an angry huff, as she tried to tune out the annoying voices of the gossiping women behind her, _Before they start bad mouthing me behind my back about something they can't even understand..._

"...Naraku-sama should have Katsuya or Shigure erase her memories and just send her away. I'm sure there will be someone willing to take in Ayame." Miroku's mother stated suddenly, breaking into Hikari's thoughts.

Hikari's entire body stiffened at that statement from her mother- in-law. _She wouldn't?! She couldn't hate me that much that she'd suggest a thing to Naraku, would she?_

"Yes, it's not like we need her anymore now that Miroku is gone." another woman piped in haughtily, as she shot a smug look at Hikari's turned back, before turning back to her companions, "Unless she's already breeding again with a child born with the Juunishi curse, what good is she except taking up space? Ayame is already old enough that he doesn't need her anymore..."

_I can't believe this._ Hikari thought angrily to herself, as she tuned out the older woman's voices out, Hikari tried to figure out what she was going to do now. _Now that Miroku is gone, Naraku wouldn't hesitate at the chance to give the order to have my memories erased._

As the priest finally said the last rites over Miroku's coffin, he closed his bible, and stepped away to allow room for the men chosen to carry the coffin to the open grave.

_Oh Miroku-kun, what am I going to do?_ Hikari wondered unhappily to herself, as she watched as Miroku's coffin was finally being lowered into the ground.

_It looks like what you told me would happen if you died is really happening._ she thought as she let her mind wonder back to a certain night a month ago, and the strange conversation she had with Miroku.

* * *

Flashback, One Month ago 

_"Hikari? Are you awake?" Miroku asked. _

It was New Years Eve, and the couple was just lying together in bed, with their arms wrapped around each other after a long night of family festivities, and were just taking comfort in each other's company, as they just simply laid together holding one another, as they waited for sleep to claim them.

"Yes. I can't get any sleep after the excitement of last nights party," Hikari said sleepily, as she yawned, stretching a bit before wrapping her arms back around Miroku's body. "What is it, Miroku?"

"I was just thinking." Miroku said simply, as he smiled down at Hikari lovingly, as he placed his arms behind his head, as he looked up at the ceiling. "I haven't been able to get any sleep either."

"Ayame has been practicing his dance routine all year, waiting for this day to happen." Hikari said sleepily, as she smiled up at her husband, "He couldn't have been any happier than he was tonight to finally show his stuff to everyone."

"I know." Miroku said, his voice softening a bit as he reached up to touch her face with one hand, brushing aside a loose strand of gray hair from her eyes. "But I'm still worried that you'll be in danger here if something bad does happen to me."

"What could happen to me here? I know nobody likes me thanks to Naraku." Hikari said, as sadness filled her voice at the reminder, as she looked down into her husbands green eyes, "But they wouldn't try anything to me as long as you're here."

"That's my whole point. As long as I'm here they wouldn't do anything to displease you or else I'd take it to Naraku." Miroku said, as a low sigh escaped his lips as he looked a Hikari with a worried expression, "But I've seen how Naraku treats you too, when he thinks I don't know he's doing it."

"Ever since Akito was born, Naraku's spent all his time grooming Akito to take over when he's gone." Hikari said, as a slight smile appeared on her features as tried to reassure her husband as best as she could, "I think he's mellowed a bit."

"That's because he knows that his time is almost up, now that Akito's here." Miroku said, looking sad as he spoke, "Haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?" Hikari asked.

"Hikari, Naraku's dying."

"What?"

"Remember his last 'attack' three weeks ago? We almost lost him then, if we hadn't gotten our family doctor to him in time." "I overheard his doctor tell him."

"They don't think that Naraku is going to live for much longer." Hikari asked, as she saw the pained look in her husbands' eyes, when he spoke of Naraku dying.

"We all knew that the moment the 'heir' was born, that Naraku would die." Miroku said in a quiet tone, refusing to look at Hikari as he spoke, "I remember once that my mother told me, that it happened with my grandfather and then our father who both shared the 'god' version of the Juunishi curse."

"I know all about the god curse, Miroku," Hikari said, as she looked up into her husband's worried eyes, "But what does this have to do with how Naraku is acting lately?"

"When Naraku was born, our father's health instantly started failing him. They said it took him four years after Naraku's birth to die. But he didn't die until after Naraku hit his fourth birthday. The same thing is now happening to my brother now that Akito has been born."

"Oh, then that means Naraku doesn't have that much longer to live then?" Hikari asked, a saddened look appearing on her features, as she finally realized what might have been bothering Miroku. "Akito's only two years old now, so Naraku has two more years to live before the curse takes him."

"Yes." Miroku said.

The two remained silent for a few more minutes, before Miroku finally spoke up again.

"Hikari, promise that if anything happens to me, that you'll leave before things go too far." Miroku said as he lay down next to his wife in bed.

"Why should I leave?" Hikari asked as she looked at her husband in confusion, wondering about his strange request. "You're not going anywhere anytime soon."

"I know, but just in case something **does** happen to me, I'd feel better knowing that your all right." Miroku said, as he brushed her hair with one hand, as he looked down into he violet eyes. "I know how the rest of you treat you, when they think I don't know, that I can almost imagine what they'd do if I'm no longer here."

"Why are you bringing this up now? If I left here, I'd have to leave Ayame behind too." Hikari demanded as she pushed herself up and away from Miroku, positioning herself so that she had a better look at his face, and see's the worry etched in his features, "Are you hiding something from me? Your not dying are you?!"

"I'm not hiding anything, and I'm fine. I'm not dying." Miroku insisted, as a loud sigh of exasperation escaped his lips as he looked up at Hikari, "Just promise me that you'll leave if things get to tough, Hikari-chan. Even if it means having to leave Ayame behind."

Hikari remained silent as she stared back at her husband, biting her lower lip in indecision as she looked at Miroku. "Are you ___sure_ there's nothing wrong with you?"

"I'm sure." Miroku said, as he pleaded with her. "Hikari, promise me."

"Fine, if it means that much to you," Hikari said as she bent over to kiss her husband quickly on his lips, "I promise to leave here, if something happens to you in the future, Miroku."

Lying back down on her side of the bed and turned her back to him, as she cuddled up in the blankets, as he wrapped his arm around her, and soon they were both asleep.

End Flashback

* * *

_Could I really just leave? Just leave Ayame alone to face these people without me?_ Hikari thought to herself, as she looked around at the other members of the Sohma family, _Or do I stay and simply wait for them to bring me in to have my memories erased, and never see Ayame again. Or worse, be forced to forget about him completely because of them?_

Sitting a few feet away next to his two friends, Hatori and Shigure Sohma, was her eldest child, Ayame, who looked remorseful as he kept his eyes on the ceremony, as the caretakers lowered his father's casket into the ground.

Shigure and Hatori while also trying to cheer up Ayame, currently had their hands full with taking care of the youngest members of the family during the ceremony, as the trio had been given the job of watching over an agitated, three year old Akito who was throwing a tantrum while Hatori was trying to calm him, while little Kagura, who was going to hit her first birthday in three months, sat quietly on Shigure's lap watching what the boys were doing while sucking on her thumb.

_It's obvious that Akito's going to grow up to become the next head of the family just like his father was._ Hikari thought to himself, as a small smile crept to her lips as she watched the little boy fight all of his cousins efforts to calm him down, _He's acting just like Naraku even at such a young age._

Looking around the cemetery she noticed that a lot of the people attending the funeral were getting out of their chairs to head back to the main house, and she happened to glance over her shoulder at her mother-in-law in time to see her being helped up out of her seat by her companions.

Midori looked up in time to see Hikari looking her way, and gave her daughter-in-law a dark, contempt filled glare, before turning on her heal, marching back towards the main house with her companions right behind her.

_Should I really just leave before it's too late, like Miroku told me to?_ Hikari thought to herself, as she stole one last glance at her husbands grave as the diggers started filling up the hole.

After a few minutes of careful thought, she finally came to a decision.

* * *

A few days later found Hikari packing a small suitcase in the middle of the night, as she prepared to sneak out of the Sohma compound before anyone realized that she was missing. 

Finished with the last of her packing, she pulled the suitcase out of her room and down the hallways, stopping momentarily to peek into Ayame's bedroom to see that he was still fast asleep. Creeping quietly into the room, she bent down over her son, reaching out a hand as if to touch him one last time, but pulls back remembering what would happen if she did, and stared at his sleeping form, letting the tears fall down her cheeks as she stared down at him.

_I hate the idea of leaving him behind, but what choice do I have? I can't stay here._ Hikari thought to herself, as she brushed the tears away with one hand as she pulled out a sealed envelope and left it on the nightstand next to Ayame's head, _If I take him with me, they'd track us down to bring him back, and it's obvious what they'd do to me once they caught us._

Taking one last look at Ayame, Hikari turned on her heel and crept out of the room as quietly as she had entered, stopping only long enough to glance back at her son's sleeping form before gently sliding the door shut behind her.

_I won't lose my memories of my child or husband because of this family..._

End Flashback

* * *

"Miss? Miss? Sorry to interrupt you, but we must go now please." 

Hikari looked up in surprise as she turned her head to look at the bus driver, as he approached her, an anxious look on his features as he came closer.

"We must go now, quickly." The bus driver repeated, in broken Japanese as he started wringing his hands together, as he reached out a hand to help her up. "Is dangerous to stay here much longer."

"What's wrong?" Hikari asked as she grasped the offered hand, and got up with the drivers help keeping one hand on her stomach as she did so, before bending over to tuck her journal into the pack.

Before she could pick the pack up, the driver had beaten her to it and was hefting it over his shoulder, as he gestured towards the darkening sky. "Is going to rain soon. Once it does, roadway back up will be dangerous if stay here for much longer."

Looking upwards, Hikari could see gray storm clouds starting to form in the sky, and felt the slight chill in beginning to fill the area, and quickly followed after the driver as fast as she could.

"Excuse me, driver?" Hikari said as she followed the driver as quickly as she could. "Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?" the driver demanded, impatience filling his voice as he glanced over his shoulder at the woman behind him.

"What is that village over there?" Hikari asked, as she pointed towards some lights that could be seen in the distance, that looked like burning torches. "Can't we stay there until the rain passes?"

"That is the village of the Joketsu Amazons." The driver said as he glanced over in the direction Hikari was pointing in, while not breaking his stride once. In fact, his pace seemed to have picked up once he had seen which village Hikari had been pointing at. "We are ___not_ stopping ___there_ for shelter."

"Amazons?" Hikari asked, surprise filling her voice as she stared at the drivers back, before glancing back towards the village, _I've read about them in books, but I never thought there were real live Amazons in this day and age..._ "Why can't we just stay there for the night? Wouldn't they allow us to stay if we asked?"

"___Everyone_ knows that the Joketsu Amazons are bad news." The driver stated firmly as he glanced over his shoulder at Hikari, giving the young woman an annoyed look as they made their way to the bus "They don't welcome outsiders that easily, or else I ___would_ have stop there to ask for shelter until the storm passed."

"But surely they wouldn't deny travelers in need of help," Hikari insisted as she looked worriedly up at the darkening cloud filled sky, just as a cold breeze blew over her causing her to shiver from the cold, "It couldn't..."

"Be waist of time, when we can make it back up the mountain." The driver insisted stubbornly, as they finally reached the bus, "Rain hasn't started yet. Is better that we try and make it back to last town visited."

Once they reached the bus, the driver quickly handed Hikari's pack to her as she boarded the bus and took a seat at the front and set her pack on the floor in front of her, and soon they were on their way.

As Hikari settled into her seat, she glanced out her window at the scenic view as the bus slowly chugged up the mountain road, as she looked wistfully at Jusenkyo as the bus rode higher up the mountain road, until the next turn on the road blocked it from view, and she finally settled back into her seat with a sigh.

_I bet Ayame would have loved coming here if he had the chance,_ Hikari thought ruefully to herself, as she finally turned her gaze away from the window to glance at the seat across from her. _If it wasn't for the pregnancy I could have at least risked visiting him while I was still in Japan._

* * *

Flashback, Four months ago 

Hikari had just returned to Japan with every plan to visit the private boys school that Ayame attended with Hatori and Shigure, to at least visit Ayame before heading out on another trip.

For the past two months, before she had left, she had opened up a mailbox in her name at the local post office, leaving the key and box number for Ayame, so he could receive the letters and gifts she sent him without them being intercepted by someone in the house.

She had been corresponding with her son through letters containing pictures of the places she'd been to, and phone calls, and she had finally decided to stop home for a surprise visit.

She knew Ayame was getting her letters, because she always received replies back from him. The first batch of letters she received told her how everyone back at the main house had reacted to her unexpected departure. He also told her how he had kept the contents of the letter she had left him from everyone else in the household, including Shigure and Hatori, and kept the letters he received in a hidden wall section in his room.

One letter in particular had left Hikari seething anger, when Ayame told her how his grandmother had tried to 'convince' him that Hikari had abandoned him, by running away from the family. Even going so far as telling him all the mean things that she thought about Hikari, and how she had never fit in, and that her running away simply proved what everybody already thought about her.

Hikari had to smile when Ayame told her how he had truly become nasty towards his grandmother at that moment, and how he had started telling his grandmother off, getting her angry and now refused to have anything to do with him until he apologized.

He finished it saying as long as ___she_ didn't mind his lack of manners towards his grandmother under the circumstances, he wasn't going to apologize to the 'old bat' anytime soon unless she apologized first for everything she told him.

_I didn't think Ayame-chan had it in him._ Hikari thought silently to herself as her lips twitched in amusement as she reread the line again, _He hides it, but he's a lot more like me than everyone thinks._ as she penned her next letter to her son, telling him that she agreed with him a hundred percent on the matter.

_Midori-san has gone too far this time._ Hikari thought angrily to herself awhile later, as she slipped the completed letter into a postmarked envelope, and slipped it into her purse to mail later. _She can say all she wants about me to my face. But going so far as to say those things about me to her own grandchild is another matter._

_If it hadn't been for Ayame, I wouldn't have had anything further to do with the Sohma family._ Hikari thought, as she stood up, when a sudden wave of dizziness hit her causing her to have to sit back down as she raised a hand to her forehead, and immediately regretted it.

_Oh no!_ Hikari thought unhappily to herself, as the sudden motion caused a moan to escape her lips, as she suddenly stood back up to rush towards the bathroom and promptly emptied out last nights meal in the toilet.

_Not again! What's wrong with me that's making me sick for the last three days?!_ Hikari moaned miserably a few minutes later as left the bathroom once she was sure her stomach was feeling better, as she used a dampened hotel towel to clean her face with.

_Maybe it's time that I go see a doctor, and find out if there's something wrong with me..._ Hikari thought as she turned to sit on her bed, holding her churning stomach as lay down on the mattress. _I just hope that whatever's causing me to throw up in the mornings isn't anything serious._

* * *

An two hours later found Hikari lying down on a cold metal table, dressed in a hospital gown as she waited for the doctor to return with her test results. 

_I hope that all I have is a bad case of the flu, and not something really serious._ Hikari thought to herself as she looked up at the bright overhead lights, before stretching to get the kinks out of her body, feeling more worn out than she had thought possible, _I wonder what the boys are doing..._

Just then, her doctor reentered the room, glancing through a clipboard, before glancing over at Hikari, smiling at her as he walked towards her bed.

"Hello Doctor Ichiouji. Are those my test results?" Hikari said, as she returned the doctor's smile as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, and saw the doctor nod his head in confirmation, "So what's the verdict? Do I just have a really bad case of the Flu or what?"

"It's good news actually, Mrs. Sohma. There's nothing for you to worry about." The doctor said kindly, as he pulled up a chair next to the bed, as he sat down. "What you have isn't anything serious to worry about. In fact if my calculations are right, what you are experiencing should clear up in about seven months or so."

Seeing the confused, blank stare on Hikari's face, the doctor reached forward and gently patted Hikari's hand reassuringly.

"What I'm trying to say is, congratulations, Mrs. Sohma," the doctor said warmly, as he smiled down at the shocked woman, "The tests came back positive. Your pregnant."

"Pregnant?!" Hikari cried out in alarm, as she stared at the doctor in open disbelief, as she stared at the doctor in shock.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Sohma, but the tests are accurate. You are approximately two months pregnant," The kindly doctor said as he gave Hikari a warm smile, "I'm guessing that you weren't expecting this pregnancy?"

"No I wasn't." Hikari said in a small voice, "It was a surprise but I'm glad to hear the news."

"Well I bet your husband will be glad to hear the news that he's going to be a father." Ichiouji-san said as he gave Hikari a reassuring smile, which quickly disappeared when he saw a pained look appear on Hikari's features at the mention of her husband, as tears started to well up in her eyes, "I'm sorry, Sohma-san, but did I say something wrong to distress you?"

"It's okay. You didn't upset. With the news of the baby, you just brought up some bad memories for me." Hikari said, her voice sounding dull as she spoke, as tears ran down her cheeks at the reminder of her loss, "I'm not married. Not anymore anyway. My husband has been dead for the past month, in a car accident. If he was still alive, he'd be thrilled at the idea of a baby."

"I'm sorry about your loss," the doctor said contritely, as he gave the young mother-to-be an apologetic look, as he went over to the cabinets and returned with some tissues, which he handed to her. "Do you have anyone who can help you during this time?"

Hikari didn't hesitate as she quickly shook her head in answer as she blew her nose on the tissues the doctor gave her, as she dabbed her eyes with the remaining clean tissues.

"Except for my son who's only ten, I don't have anyone else to rely on." Hikari said, as she looked down at the floor, not wanting to look the doctor in the eyes as she spoke.

"What about your husband's family?" the doctor asked, frowning a bit when he noticed her actually flinch at the mention of her husband's family, _I wonder what's wrong?_ the doctor wondered, before continuing his questioning, "Can't they help you in your time of need?"

"My husbands family and I didn't get along that well even when he was still alive," Hikari said, shaking her head once more as she looked at the doctor with firm eyes, "So they are out too. I don't need their help raising this child. They will only make things worse for me if they knew."

The doctor nodded in understanding, deciding not to pursue the matter since it obviously looked to be a touchy subject with her, as he looked at his clipboard, as he had talked to her about prenatal care, and vitamins she should take.

* * *

_This day can't get any better. I'm pregnant again with Miroku's child. At least I now have something else to remind me of him._ Hikari thought happily as she stepped out of the hospital awhile later, as she practically skipped down the stairs in glee. _I just wish Miroku was still here to share this with me._

As she waited at the crosswalk for the light to change so she could get to the parking lot across the street where she had left her car, her thoughts went to Ayame, and how he was going to take the news.

_Ayame would be just as thrilled when he hears the news that he's going to be a big brother._ Hikari thought, as she imagined the look on her son's face when she told him the news, _He'll be so happy, that... Oh no!_

Hikari stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, as she remembered what being pregnant would mean, especially if someone in the Sohma clan found out about it.

_If they somehow find out I'm pregnant again with Miroku's child, they'll stop at nothing to find me and bring me back to the compound,_ Hikari thought as despair filled her, biting her lip as she weighed her options on whether or not she should continue her original plans, _and keep me there until the child is born just to find out if it's one of the cursed. Then they'd probably take my baby away, and **then** erase my memories._

_It's official then._ Hikari sadly thought to herself as her shoulders drooped in resignation, as she realized there was no way she could go see Ayame now because of her pregnancy. _I'm **definitely** not going back home anytime soon._

_I **really** wanted to see Ayame again!_ she thought angrily as she walked back to her hotel from the hospital, _If they find out about the baby, they might make me stay until its born to see if it might be cursed and try and take it away from me if it is..._

Once she reached her hotel, she walked into the lobby and entered an empty elevator and rode up to her floor. As she waited for the elevator to stop, Hikari looked down at her flat stomach longingly, as she rested a hand on it, almost feeling the small life starting to form within her womb, just as the elevator finally came to a stop and the doors opened.

_Looks like it's just you and me kiddo._ Hikari thought, as a small smile appeared on her lips, as a faraway look appeared in her eyes, as she stepped out onto her floor and headed towards her door.

End Flashback

* * *

The bus was traveling slowly up the steep dirt pathway that would take them out of the valley, when the rain started coming down. It at first started as a small drizzle, then it steadily started coming down harder, causing Hikari's fellow passengers to look worriedly out the windows as the bus lurched on the slick road. 

Reaching into her shirt she pulled out a gold heart shaped locket with silver lining on the lid, and flipped it open to reveal two what was inside. It was a birthday gift to her from the boys, who had all chipped in their allowances to pay for it and get the pictures mounted within.

In one frame it showed her and Miroku standing side by side with Ayame in front of them as they all smiled for the camera, and in the second frame was a picture similar to the first one, only now it just showed Shigure and Hatori posing for the camera with Ayame. Shigure and Ayame were making goofy faces at the camera, while Hatori tried to pretend that he didn't know them.

_I can't believe how I miss the three of them._ Hikari thought sadly to herself as she the locket and tucked it back under her shirt, as she rested a hand on her stomach, as she glanced outside the window just as a flash of lightning lit up the sky, quickly followed by the loud rumbling of thunder. _You'll meet your brother and his friends one of these days when I get back to Japan._

_I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning instead of going on this trip,_ Hikari thought crossly, as she tried to not think about how high the bus might be at that moment, and sent a silent prayer that they didn't fall.

Deciding to try and take her mind off of the rain, Hikari reached into her backpack and pulled out her journal to finish what she had started earlier when she had gotten distracted. Once she was finished, she started to close the journal, when the bus suddenly gave a lurch as the wheels slid in the mud, as they tried to regain purchase, causing the passengers to cry out in alarm.

Holding her breath for a few minutes, as she waited for a sign that the bus was about to fall over the side, Hikari released her breath in a rush when nothing happened. Noticing how her hands were tightly clutching the leather bound book in her hands, Hikari looked down at it once more, then flipped the journal open to start a new entry.

_...What could the driver be thinking of insisting that we try making our way back up the mountain in this weather? I don't think it's safe to try going back up the mountain on this dirt road in the bus, especially now that the road is slick with mud. I wish the driver had listened to me and just stopped at that village to ask for shelter. The worst the villagers could have done was refuse, but the driver wouldn't even try and go ask them. Instead he insisted that we should try and get back up the mountain before the storm started. Now look where we are now. At this point, I don't think that the Amazons could be any worse than risking our lives on this road. I just hope that I make it off this road in one piece..._

Just then the bus gave another sudden lurch, as the wheels gave off a loud ___slurping_ sound as it moved through the mud, before finally coming to a complete stop in the middle of the road.

The driver started cursing in Chinese, as he tried pushed and pulled on the levers, and stomped down on the gas pedal to try and get the bus moving again. Everyone could hear the loud grinding of the buses gears as they strained against the pressure being put on it, but it was no use. They were stuck.

_Oh no, not now._ Hikari thought to herself, as she instinctively clutched her stomach protectively, as she peered out her window worriedly, wondering just how high up from the ground they must be now, but only saw darkness outside. _Please don't tell me we're stuck here in the middle of nowhere..._

Some of the valley locals who had hitched a ride on the bus for the return trip up the mountain were grumbling to themselves, as they talked amongst each other.

"Oh my, this isn't a good thing, is it dear?" an elderly woman asked her husband worriedly, from the seat across from Hikari.

"I say, driver. Can't you get this bus moving again?" one of the passengers in the back of the bus called out.

"I no can go anywhere, if bus is stuck in mud!" the driver snapped angrily in broken Japanese, as he unhooked his seatbelt, and opened the doors so he could go out and see what was going on.

A few minutes later, he was back in, soaking wet, and cursing in Chinese, as he pulled the lever to shut the door behind him.

"What's going on?" Hikari asked, as she held her fumbled with her pack to in order to put her journal back, "How bad does it look out there?"

"We're stuck good and tight. The wheels look like they are deep in the mud." The driver said, "If anybody's willing to get out of the bus and push, maybe we can get out of the mud."

When nobody stood up to volunteer for the job, the driver cursed again as he glared at everyone, before he slumped back into his seat, and started the engine, stomping down on the gas pedal as he did, only to have the engine stall on him.

Just then, there was a sudden flash of lightning that completely lit up the sky, followed by the sound of thunder, which everyone ignored. But after a few seconds, everyone noticed a low rumbling sound coming from somewhere nearby, that didn't sound the least like thunder.

_What's going on? What's making that rumbling sound? It doesn't sound like thunder..._ Hikari thought worriedly, as she out the window as she tried make out the source of the rumbling sound through the rain, with little success.

Finally giving up on trying to locate the source of the rumbling, Hikari finally sat back into her seat, pulling her backpack on her lap, as she clutched it protectively to her body, as she looked around at her fellow passengers, noticing that they also were looking worried as they too glanced out their own windows for the source of the rumbling.

The bus started to shake with each passing second as the rumbling became louder, as everyone became more scared than before.

Just then another flash of lightning lit up the sky once more, causing one of the female passengers on the left side of the bus who was looking out the window right at that moment, to scream in terror as she started pointing out the window, as she started talking in rapid Chinese.

Everyone turned to look out the window in time to see a huge flood of mud and rocks cascading down the mountain straight towards them, just before the area became dark again!

Before anyone could one had any time to react before the mudslide hit the side of the bus head on, all of the passengers screamed as the bus was thrown off the road and fell down the side of the cliff.

As they fell, Hikari was thrown back against metal wall beside her seat, as her head hit the window with a loud crack, as pain filled her mind.

_Oh kami, please don't let anything happen to my baby!_ were Hikari's last thoughts before her world became black.

* * *

Awhile later 

Hikari awoke to searing pain shooting throughout her body, as a small gasp of pain escaped her lips when she tried to move. It felt like her entire body was on fire, and it hurt to breath. She could feel bandages covering her body.

_I'm still alive?_ Hikari wondered to herself, as she became adjusted to the pain, she realized that she wasn't lying on the semi soft cushions in the bus, but was now lying flat on her back on what felt like a bed, and she could feel blankets on top of her, _Where am I? What happened..._ In a sudden rush of insight, it all came rushing back to her. _Oh kami.. The accident... Is my baby..._

As she tried to move her arm to towards her stomach to check, she let out a small gasp of pain caused by the movement reminding her of her injuries, finally managing to place her hand on her stomach, and let out a loud sigh of relief when she felt the familiar swell in her stomach, and felt a reassuring kick from her baby as if it was letting her know that it was indeed still alive.

She suddenly gasped when she felt someone place a damp cloth on her forehead.

"Don't move." A kind, soothing voice told her in Chinese, as a hand touched her cheek in a comforting way, as Hikari's eyes opened to search for the search of the voice, "You've been injured in an accident, and straining yourself so soon will only hurt you more."

"What did you say?" Hikari asked her voice coming out in a barely audible croak as she looked up at the source of the voice, as she forced her eyes focus on who was tending to her, and saw a young woman close to her own age smiling down at her, as she balanced a one year old, purple haired toddler on her hip. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"Oh, you speak Japanese, sorry about that." the woman said, quickly switching to Japanese as she continued, "I said that you shouldn't be moving around so much. You're badly hurt, and it's not good for you ___or_ your baby in the condition your in. Is there anything I can get for you?"

"Water, please" Hikari croaked out, closing her eyes once more as she listened to the other woman's footsteps retreat, quickly followed by the sound of liquid being poured. A few seconds later she felt the cold rim of a cup touch her lips, and quickly opened her mouth as the cool liquid was poured in past her parched lips.

"Take small sips. That is enough for now. We don't want to make you sick again." The girl said, as she finally removed the cup from Hikari's mouth and placed it on a nearby table. "My Japanese is not that good. My name Lin Pu, and this is my daughter, Xian Pu."

"I'm Hikari." Hikari said, as she looked around the small room, taking in her surroundings for the first time since awakening. It was a small room, with colorful tapestries decorating the walls, a wooden table rested in the corner with a ceramic bowel on top. "Where am I?"

"Your in the village of the Joketsu Amazons, dearie." Another voice answered, causing Hikari's attention to instantly turn towards the open doorway to see a gnome sized old woman, hanging from a long staff standing there.

"The Joketsu Amazons?" Hikari croaked out, as her eyes widened in surprise at the news.

"I am Cologne, the Matriarch of this village. You've already met my granddaughter and great-granddaughter." Cologne said as she nodded her head towards the young woman as she pogoed over to the bed and lands gently on the bed with the staff resting at her side. "You had us worried for awhile now. We didn't think you would ever wake up."

"How long have I been unconscious?" Hikari asked.

"Nearly four days already. You had taken a nasty blow to the head during the crash." Lin said, as she took a seat across from her grandmother, as she placed her daughter onto her lap. "Plus you were also sick with a high fever. So we've been worried that you might never wake up."

"How did I get here?" Hikari took the information in stride, "What happened to everyone else on the bus? Did anyone else make it?"

"The Jusenkyo guide heard the crash, and came to see what was happening, then sent word to our village for help." Cologne said.

"You're quite lucky. The fall wasn't that serious, and the mud from the landslide cushioned most of the landing," Lin added in, "so not all of the passengers were killed."

"'Not all of the passengers'? Just how many is still alive?" Hikari asked, as a stunned look appeared on her features, as she listened to there explanations.

"Besides you, there were only four other who survived the crash, with serious injuries." Lin said, as a saddened look appeared on her features, "After they were treated here, we transported those who could be moved to the hospital, along with the bodies."

"Why wasn't I sent with the others? Was I really that bad off that I couldn't be moved." Hikari asked, confusion filling her as she looked around the small room, as she tried to sit up only to be gently pushed back down by Lin, "How bad off was I?"

"Nothing to worry about." Cologne said, said she reached out with one gnarled hand to gently pat her hand in a comforting way. "So we've been nursing you back to health."

"In your current condition we didn't think it was wise to try and send you back up the mountain with the others," Lin said as she came over to the bed and she removed the cloth on Hikari's forehead. "You have the child to think of to risk making the long journey back up the mountain until we're sure you are completely recovered."

"Thank you for taking care of me for so long when I needed it." Hikari said as she tried to sit back up, "But I have to leave here as soon as possible. I..."

"You won't be leaving anytime soon, dear." Cologne said, cutting off Hikari's words, as she reached out with one hand and managed to push Hikari back onto the bed with little effort, and nodded her head as if she was mentally confirming something, "You're ___still_ much too weak from your ordeal to go anywhere anytime soon."

"How long do you think it'll be before I can leave here?" Hikari asked, a defeated look appearing on her features as she realized that the older woman was right.

"Don't look so unhappy about remaining here," Cologne chided, laughing a bit at the expression she saw on Hikari's features, "Don't believe whatever you may have heard about us, dearie. Not all of it is true."

"Tell me, were you traveling alone on the bus, or was your husband with you on the bus?" Cologne asked a moment later, "Is there anyone we can contact to let them know where you are?"

"No, I'm traveling through China by myself, so there's no one who you can contact for me who's close by." Hikari said, shaking her head, as she looked at the other two women with a pained expression, "I have a son, but he's staying with relatives back in Japan, and my husband has been dead for the last six months."

* * *

It took another week of constant bed rest before Hikari was finally allowed to leave her bed for short periods of time under Lin's supervision, and was nearly recovered from the accident, though her hands and arms and legs were still wrapped in bandages. 

During her short stay in the village, Hikari and Lin had become the closest of friends, as the two spent time with one another while she was stuck in bed, either talking about the things Lin had done that day with the other Amazons, or talking about Hikari's life before coming to the village.

One day, Lin came home from a hunting trip dragging a deer carcass behind her, to find her husband, Tao, already in the kitchen getting things ready for him to cook dinner. Giving him a slight smile, stopping long enough to drop off her kill in the kitchen for her husband to prepare for that days meal.

Leaving the kitchen, she walked into one of the backrooms, to find Hikari entertaining Shampoo on her bed, playing a game of peek-a-boo with the toddler when Lin came into the room.

"Thank you for taking care of Shampoo for Tao and I, Hikari-chan." Lin said cheerfully, as she walked over to the bed and picked up her daughter, who broke off into a fit of giggles as she hugged her mother. "We both appreciate it."

"It was a pleasure, Lin. She was a perfect angel for her auntie Hikari, weren't you, Shampoo?" Hikari said as she got off of the bed, as she gave her friend a small smile, "I loved every minute of it."

"Still you should have been resting you haven't fully recovered yet to be dealing with an energetic toddler, Hikari." Lin chided, as she helped Hikari up, "And so soon to your due date, too."

"I'm fine really." Hikari said, as she waved off Lin's comment, as she gave her friend a teasing smile as she placed a hand on her stomach, "I see it as practice for when my baby is born."

"Hm I would have thought you had a lot of practice with your first child, Hikari." Lin said, noticing how the other woman suddenly flinched at the mention of her eldest child, and found it strange.

During her stay in the Amazon's home Hikari had told her about her son, Ayame, and her deceased husband, Miroku, even showing her a family picture of the three together inside of her gold locket. When asked about why she hadn't brought Ayame with her on this trip, Hikari wouldn't answer, and clammed up.

"What's troubling you Hikari-chan?" Lin asked her friend worriedly, one day, after Lin had come back from a long day of hunting with her Amazon sisters.

"I may have to tell you something important about this child. It's a warning you might say," Hikari said as she looked from Lin to Cologne, with a panicked look on her face, as she rested a hand on her stomach protectively as she looked away, "I don't know if it may be necessary or not, but I want to make sure you know about it before he or she comes along."

"Whatever could be wrong that has you looking so worried, child?" Cologne asked immediately after seeing the stricken look on Hikari's features. "What kind of warning do you think we might need when your child comes?"

"To prevent whoever helps with my pregnancy from freaking out just in case." Hikari said softly, as she looked at the two women, before sighing. "My husband's family has a curse on it. One that may ___or_ may not reveal itself in my baby once it is born."

"What kind of curse?" Lin asked.

"In every new generation born into that family, there will ___always_ be thirteen children born cursed to turn into the thirteen animals of the Chinese Zodiac." Hikari said, as she looked away. "Before I left home, there were already four children that have the Juunishi curse. Three boys and one girl. My oldest son, Ayame, turns into the _Snake_, while his cousins turn into the _Dog_, _Dragon_, and the _Pig_"

"I had no choice. If I had stayed there, they would have found a reason to get rid of me." Hikari said, resentment filling her voice as spoke, as tears started to form in her eyes as the memories came back. "After my husband died, they didn't bother hiding how much they didn't want me around. Even at the funeral, my mother-in-law was talking about asking the head of our family to... to..."

Cologne reach out and place a small hand on Hikari's arm, "Take your time, dearie. What were they going to do to you that was so bad?"

"She was going to have my memories erased. If I had stayed, it would have been only a matter of time before I was called forward, and had my memories erased of possibly ___everything_ dealing with that family," The tears were starting to flow freely now down her cheeks, as she looked away, "including my own husband and child, and sent on my way with no idea of what I had lost..."

"Don't you think that you are overreacting a bit, Hikari," Cologne asked, "No one has the power to erase another's memory, unless they were skilled in magic."

"I've seen them do it before to people who accidentally find out about the family curse. It's a power that ___only_ those cursed to turn into the Dragon possess," Hikari said, as tears ran down her face, as she saw the stunned looks on the women's faces through the tears, "I couldn't risk the chance of staying there. I would have lost everything I held dear."

"You don't know them the way I do. I've lived with that family for ten years, and Miroku and Ayame were only things that made living there bearable." Hikari said. "Just the thought of not being able to remember Miroku or Ayame-kun was enough to make me run. And now with this new baby coming..."

"Did they know about the baby before you left?" Cologne asked.

"No. I didn't even know I was pregnant until a month ___after_ I left." Hikari said as she shook her head, as she sat back up and placed her hand, "If I had gone back even to visit, and they had found out about the baby, they would have kept me prisoner there until after it's born just to see whether or not it was one of the cursed."

"How does the Juunishi curse work exactly?" Lin cut in, as she sat down on the edge of the bed in front of Hikari, while Cologne took a seat on the other end of the bed. "Do you have a way of telling if the child is cursed ___before_ the child is born?"

"It's not until after the child is born," Hikari said, as she shook her head in answer to Lin's question as she spoke, "Nobody knows whether or not the newborn would be cursed to become which animal until ___after_ the child is born."

"How can you tell?" Cologne asked.

"There is only two ways to know if your newborn child is one of the cursed. If the child is a girl and held by a man, she'll change, into the animal she's been cursed to turn into," Hikari said, as she started describing exactly how the curse would work, as anger filled her voice but the sadness in her eyes could be seen as she spoke, "And if it's a boy and held by ___any_ woman, even if it's his own mother, he ___will_ change."

"Does the curse work ___all_ the time?" Cologne asked, curiosity filling her as she listened to Hikari's story, "Does it cause the curse child to transform into his or her animal form when anyone of the opposite gender touches them?"

"The only time the curse doesn't activate, is ___only_ when they're touched by someone who shares the Juunishi curse" Hikari said, a rueful look appearing on her features as she placed a hand on her stomach in thought, "They don't change despite whatever the others gender might be."

"Is there any way to know before hand if the child is cursed?" Lin asked, concern filling her as she listened to Hikari's story, as she finally came to realize exactly what was bothering the other woman during the past few weeks that she'd been staying with them. "Or a way to prevent the curse from happening?"

"That's not how the curse works." Hikari said, shaking her head once again, "As far as I can tell it's been that way in the family for generations. With each new generation of children born, there will ___always_ be thirteen children born with the Juunishi curse."

"There's something I wanted to ask you about." Cologne interrupted, "You kept mentioning that 'thirteen' children will be cursed to turn into the Chinese Zodiac animals. But there are twelve animals in the Zodiac."

"I know." Hikari said, as she looked at the elderly woman with a sad expression, "But with the curse there's thirteen animals. The thirteenth animal of the Zodiac is the Cat."

"The Cat?" Lin asked, confusion filling her.

"Have you ever heard of one old legend involving the Chinese Zodiac about how the cat ___almost_ became a part of the Chinese Zodiac," Hikari said as she did a quick rundown of the story, "if it hadn't been tricked by the rat into missing the party that they and the other chosen animals had been invited to by God..."

"I've heard of that old legend, but it's only a fairytale story told to children," Cologne said, interrupting Hikari's story, holding up a small hand to stop her, "But you are saying that one of the thirteen 'chosen' children will turn into the cat?"

"Yes. The worst thing about the cat curse, is that poor child is double cursed." Hikari said, in confirmation, her eyes becoming saddened as she thought about the curses, "Unless they wear a special bracelet at ___all_ times, they will transform into a monster."

"Any child born ___after_ the thirteen 'chosen' children will be born completely normal and uncursed," Hikari said a ruefull look appearing on her features, "never having to worry about changing when someone of the opposite gender touched them."

"That sounds like a horrible way for a child to go through life," Lin said, shaking her head in disbelief, as she listened to Hikari's story. "To never know what it's like to be touched or hugged by even their own mother or father, depending on what gender the child is."

"They learn to adapt and get whatever they can." Hikari said, shifting on the bed as she lay back onto the pillows that cushioned her back, and tried to get into a comfortable position, wincing at the sudden shift put pressure on her stomach.

"Are you all right, dear?" Cologne asked, her voice filled with concern as she noticed the wince immediately, "Is it the baby?"

"I'm fine, right now." Hikari said, waving off the elderly woman as she settled back into the pillows, resting a hand on her stomach as she looked between the two women. "There's one way to know for sure if it's cursed."

"What's that?" Lin asked, cocking her head to one side, confusion filling her as she wondered what brought ___this_ up now, "Is something else wrong that we should know about?"

"Yes. In my husbands family, unborn babies who possess the Junishi curse, ___always_ come two months early," Hikari said simply, "I was already six months pregnant when I first came here."

"And it's already been two weeks since the accident." Cologne said in understanding as she realized where this conversation was leading up to, "What your saying that is that if this child you carry is one of the cursed children, then it ___might_ come in the next week or so?!"

"What?" Lin exclaimed, disbelief filling her voice as she stared incredulously at Hikari.

"Maybe sooner than that." Hikari said, as she reached down to rub her stomach as she stared at the two woman, before looking away

"Are you in labor now is that it?" Cologne asked.

"I'm fine, I've just been feeling more tired than usual lately, and," Hikari said, as she shook her head in answer, "I've been having pains since this afternoon. It could be any day now."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?!" Cologne demanded, as she looked at Hikari disapprovingly, "Are they serious pains?" "No. Their off and on. I've been taking it easy when the pains started." Hikari said, "I've been lying in bed all day, playing with Shampoo while Tao and Lin were busy."

* * *

Two days later, Lin was helping Hikari back to her bed after breakfast, when Hikari's water broke, and five hours later she gave birth to a healthy baby boy with violet eyes, and tuffs of dark gray hair on his head. 

It had surprised the village midwife who attended the birth, when the newborn she held immediately transformed into a gray furred, violet eyed baby rat when he was held for the first time by her, causing everyone in the hut to come running when they heard her screams of fright.

Tao had been given the job of feeding the newborn with a bottle filled with milk, laced with a spoonful of honey to sweeten it, while Hikari watched on, as she sat up with her back propped up against some pillows as she finished writing a letter she had started when the labor pains began, while Lin and Cologne stayed in the other room talking about something concerning Hikari and the baby.

Hikari didn't know whether or not Lin and Cologne had been aware that she was awake when they were in her room earlier after the birth of her son, but she had been able to hear everything. It seemed that her body hadn't completely healed from the accident, and because of the long hours that it had taken to bring her son into the world had finally taken it's toll on her body, and now that it was done, she was still bleeding with no sign of it stopping anytime soon.

Lin had come into her room after talking to Cologne, with tears running down her face, to find Hikari awake, and relayed the message to her, telling her how sorry she was.

_Who would have thought it would end like this. If I die hear, Ayame will never know what happened to me when my letters stop coming..._ Hikari thought as she nibbled on the end of her pen as she looked down at her letter before signing it and folding it up.

_I don't know when or even if Ayame will ever see this letter, but at least he'll have an explanation for what happened to me..._ Hikari thought to herself after tucking the completed letter in a hidden section in the back of her journal.

Awhile after Tao had left the room once the feeding was done, and Hikari laid on her pallet while listening to the soft sounds of her newborn son's soft coo's in the little wicker basket next to her, lying on her side so she could look down into his small face, as she tried to ignore the pain coursing through her body with each movement she made.

Even after being one hour old, the little boy violet eyes were wide open and stared up at his mother, cooing happily at the strange woman looking down at him, as she reached out a hand to gently touch the small tuff of gray hair sticking out on top of his head, as the baby slowly drifted off to sleep.

_He's so beautiful. I can tell he's going to grow up to look his father, with that hair and eyes._ Hikari thought sadly to herself, as she looked down at her son, afraid that if she tried to hold him now, she might accidentally crush him if he transformed into his rat form.

_Too bad I won't be able to see him grow up. I just wish I could hold you just once..._ With each passing hour, she could feel herself getting weaker by the minute, just then, a shudder wracked her body followed by a loud moan of pain escaping from her lips.

"Hikari-chan? How are you feeling now?" Lin's familiar voice called from across the room.

Hikari looked up to see Lin walk into her room carrying a small bowel, as an elderly woman pogoed inside on a long gnarled staff.

"Good afternoon, Lin, Cologne-san." Hikari said, as she looked up at the two women, as they entered the room, "I'm feeling a little better." Hikari said, as she pushed herself up with her elbows, as she smiled at her friend with tired eyes, as she eyed the bowel the other woman carried with her. "What's the bowel for?"

"We have a proposition, Hikari." Lin said, as she placed the bowel on a nearby table, and walked towards the bed to sit down at the foot, "I don't know if this might even work, but we decided that it couldn't hurt to try it out."

"Permission for what?" Hikari asked, confusion filling her voice as she looked at the two woman before her.

"You remember what we told you about the cursed valley of Jusenkyo, and it's cursed springs?" Cologne asked, continuing when Hikari nodded her head, "What we have in the bowel is water from the Pool of Drowned girl."

"Why did you bring the water here?" Hikari asked, confusion filling her, as she looked at the two women in confusion, as she tried to figure out what they were trying to tell her, "I thought you told me that Jusenkyo is dangerous, and why do you need my permission for what reason."

"We want to see if we can counteract the Juunishi curse," Lin said as walked over to where the baby basket was and picked it up, and placed it on the bed next to Hikari, "by giving your son the drowned girl curse, so that you may hold him without him changing into the rat."

"We want to give you the chance to hold him while you are still with us," Cologne said, as she smiled at Hikari, giving the younger woman a reassuring smile, "and Jusenkyo seems the most likely option that will give you this chance."

"But there is a warning. If you accept our offer, and it does work," Lin added in, "your baby will spend the rest of his life dealing with not just the Juunishi curse, but will also have to deal with the drowned girl curse."

"Is there a cure for Jusenkyo?" Hikari asked, as uncertainty filled her as she looked down at her baby as he slept peacefully inside of his basket, then back at the two women.

"There is no known cure for Jusenkyo's curses." Cologne said simply, as she looked at the younger woman with a sad look. "You don't have to rush it if you need time to think about it."

"But you might want to hurry on your decision." Lin added in quickly, as she looked at other woman. "There's no telling how much time you have left in this world."

Hikari sat there thinking on the pros and cons of giving her son the Drowned Girl curse, with one side of her wanting to immediately jump at the chance to be able to hold he newborn at least once before she died, while another part of argued that the Jusenkyo curse might not even affect the Juunishi curse at all.

_What could it hurt? It might actually work. But then again, it might not work the way we hoped it would..._ Hikari thought silently, as she came to a decision, _If it does, at least my son will have the chance to grow up without being afraid full time._

Hikari looked over at her son one last time, before nodding her head towards Lin, "Do it."

Taking the spoon that was hanging over the edge of the bowel, Lin carefully carried the spoon over the short distance to the baby basket, and poured a small amount of the cursed water on the sleeping baby, as Hikari watched silently.

After a few moments, Hikari began to look worried, because she hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary happen to her son after the water had been poured on him.

"Did it work?" She asked anxiously.

"Only one way to find out." Cologne said, "Lin would you do the honor's please?"

"Sure, great-grandmother, just give me a second." Lin said, as she quickly returned the spoon to the bowel, then walked back towards the basket.

Hikari held her breath, as she watched her friend bend over the basket, and her eyes widened in surprise, as Lin carefully lifted the sleeping baby from it's bed, blankets and all, with no loud _**POOF**_ coming forth.

"There's a good baby," Lin said softly a small smile creeping to her lips as she looked down at the cherubic child, as she gently touched one of the baby's cheeks, before she turned towards Hikari, "Looks like our plan worked, Hikari-chan."

"Lin, is my baby?" Hikari said, as she pushed herself even further up and away from the pillows, as she stared at her friend in disbelief as Lin held her newborn son, in her arms. "He didn't change..."

"The water worked, Hikari." Lin said as she turned her gaze towards her friend, giving the other woman a warm smile as she sat down on the bed while cradling the newborn in her arms, "Your son is now a girl, and it looks like you can now touch him when he's in this body. Would you like to hold him?"

Hikari held out her arms for the baby, which was quickly deposited into her arms, as a small smile of relief filled her as she looked down at her son's sleeping form, as she shifted him gently in her arms to try and not wake him up, as tears started to form in her eyes.

"Hikari?" Lin asked worriedly, as she saw the tears started to fall down her friends' cheeks, as the other woman looked at the child she now held in her arms, "Is something wrong?"

"I'm just glad that I'm finally able to hold him, without being afraid of accidentally crushing him if he transformed." Hikari said, as she looked back towards Lin and Cologne gratefully, "Thank you Lin-san, Cologne-san for doing this for me."

"It was the least we could do for you under the circumstances, Hikari." Cologne said, as she gave the younger woman a small smile, as she gazed worriedly at Hikari, taking in the worn look in the young mother's appearance.

After years of experience in matters such as this, Cologne and knew that Hikari probably didn't have much longer for this world.

"What will you name him?" Lin suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had started to settle in the room. "Do you already have a name picked out?"

"I already have the perfect name for him," Hikari said, a hint of tiredness in her voice as she looked down her son-turned-daughter, as he/she now laid nestled in her arms, "One that will fit both of his forms. When he's a boy, ___he_ will simply be known as Yuki. And when he's a girl, ___she_ will be known as Yukina."

"That sounds like a perfect name for him." Lin said, smiling a bit as she stared at her friend as she looked at her baby lovingly.

Cologne and Lin smiled encouragingly as they watched the new mother hold her child, both glad that they were able to do this one thing for the outsider who they had come to consider a member of their own family in the short time she was with them.

The two Amazons watched as Hikari held her child in her arms for a minutes, watching as she rocked the baby in her arms while humming a small melody until the child finally fell asleep.

"Thank you for doing the for me. It's the best gift I could ever hope for." Hikari said as she glanced at the two woman with tear filled eyes, just as a sudden tiredness filled her, as she yawned, covering her mouth with a free hand.

As she looked at Lin and Cologne, she gave both women a happy smile, before turning her gaze back to her child, placing a kiss on the girl's forehead before holding the baby out so that Lin could take her.

"Hikari?" Lin asked, worry filling her as she watched the other woman's eyes start to close, "Are you all right?"

"I'm just tired right now," Hikari said, her voice sounding quieter as she spoke, as her eyes remained closed, "Lin, can you please hand me my locket? It's on that table behind you."

Hikari listened to Lin's soft footsteps as she walked away from her bedside, and heard the sound of a chair being moved out of the way, before the footsteps returned to the bedside.

A second later, she soon felt the cold, metal surface of her locket touch the back of her hand as they rested on her chest, and Hikari open her hand to let Lin drop it into her palm.

"Thank you, Lin." Hikari said, smiling as she opened her eyes, and smiled appreciatively at the Amazon woman.

"Your welcome, Hikari." Lin said returning the smile.

"We'll leave you to yourself for awhile." Cologne said as she nodded her head at Lin, at the elderly woman as she left the room, and "If you need anything, just call out, all right?"

"I'll take Yuki with me and watch him while you sleep," Lin said, as she picked up the basket, glancing back one last time at the bedridden woman before leaving, "I'll be back later with some food for you."

"All right." Hikari said, her voice sounding strained as she smiled weakly. "Thank you Lin."

"Your welcome." Lin said, as she glanced back once more before stepping through the doorway, shutting the door with a soft click. "I really hope you feel better when you get some rest, Hikari."

* * *

Once she was alone once more, she raised her hands up as she opened the clasp on the side, and looked at the familiar faces of her family staring back at her, as tears filled her eyes as she stared at the image of Ayame, Shigure and Hatori. 

"You know I always I thought I would have time to go back and see my boys again," Hikari said softly, as she looked at the pictures, before lowering her hands and let lie on her stomach, "But now it looks like I stayed away too long."

As Hikari lay on her bed, she closed her eyes as a deep sense sudden wariness filled her, feeling too tired to keep her eyes open any longer and just wanted to sleep.

_'Hikari-chan, wake up.'_ a familiar voice called from somewhere close by, _'Come on Hikari, wake up. It's time to go.'_

_That voice... It almost sounds like Miroku's, but..._ Hikari thought frowned in confusion, as she tried to place the voice she heard, didn't open her eyes, _It couldn't be, he's dead. I have to be dreaming..._

"_It's no dream, love. I'm really here.'_ A soft chuckle could be heard from the foot of her bed, sounding both mildly amused and mischievous as she felt a cool hand touch her foot and give it a gentle shake. _'Now stop being such a stubborn lay-a-bed and wake up.'_

That voice, belonging to the one man whom she'd ever love, whom she had missed these past seven months since his death, sounded so real, so close that Hikari immediately latched onto it, as she forced her eyes open to see if he was really there.

"Miroku?" Hikari whispered, her eyes widening in disbelief as she saw his ghostly transparent figure standing at the foot of her bed, "Is that really you?!"

Miroku stood at the foot of her bed grinning mischievously at her from his spot, green eyes twinkling as he ran a transparent hand through his black hair nervously as he stared at her. He was still wearing the same business suit he'd been wearing the day he died, though it now looked worse for wear on him.

_'Of course it's me, who else would it be? I've been waiting a long time to talk to you again.'_ Miroku teased as he looked down at Hikari as she struggled to sit up in her bed, as he held out a hand to her, _'I've been waiting for you, Hikari. It's time for us to go.'_

"Go? Go where?..." Hikari started to ask, but stopped when she realized what he must mean, "I'm dead, aren't I?"

_'Not yet, but your getting there.'_ Miroku said, shaking his head in answer. _'I'm here to help you cross over to the other side, so you won't be alone when you die.'_

"But what about Yuki? I can't leave him. He's too young." Hikari said, tears running down her face as she looked pleadingly at her husband as he reached out to touch her cheek comfortingly, "And Ayame..."

_'It'll be okay, Hikari.'_ Miroku said soothingly as he climbed into the bed and wrapped his ghostly arms around his wife's body, feeling more solid as he held her while rubbing her back soothingly, _'He'll be okay. Lin and her family will take care of him just like you asked. You can't stay here anymore.'_

Tears pooled into Hikari's eyes as she wrapped her arms around him, "I missed you so much, Miroku...

_'I know. I've missed you too.'_ Miroku said as he pulled away from her and stood up, and held out his hand towards her, _'Are you ready to go?'_

"I'm ready." Hikari said, smiling as she shook of the blanket covering her body, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and took Miroku's hand into her own, and stood up and allowed him to pull her into another hug..

_'I'm not leaving you alone again, Hikari'_ Miroku said as he held her close, before pulling away to look into her violet eyes, as he bends his head down to kiss her on the lips, _'Not if I can help it.'_

"You better not, Miroku or else I might never forgive you." Hikari said as she looked back at him giving him a tearful smile, as she bends her head back to accept the kiss.

As they shared a kiss between them the room was suddenly bathed in a bright blinding light, that seemed to envelope them.

When the light faded, the couple was gone.

* * *

Awhile later, Lin opened the door leading into Hikari's room to check on her, carrying a tray of food with her into the room, "Hikari are you awake? Do you want something to eat?" 

When she didn't get an answer, Lin frowned as she set down the tray on the table and approached the bed, and stopped once she had a good view of the bed, and shook her head sadly as she stared at her friend, "Oh Hikari..."

Hikari still lay on her bed with her blanket covering her body, with her arms resting on top of the blanket. Her eyes were closed and she had a peaceful look on her features, looking like she was only sleeping, as a smile graced her lips as if she was having a nice dream.

But it was obvious from the lack of movement from underneath the blanket that should have indicated the rise and fall of her chest as she slept, that she wasn't breathing anymore.

Lin sat on the edge of the bed and reached a hand towards Hikari's throat to check for a pulse, already knowing what she would find there, but still wanted to make sure, and feels the chill coming from Hikari's skin.

Sighing a bit, Lin stood up, and pulled the blanket up to cover Hikari's face, and left the room to tell the others.

Cologne was sitting at the table with Tao as they waited for Lin to return so they could start dinner. Both looked up expectantly when they heard Lin's enter the room, and became silent when they saw the look on her face, as she took a seat at the table.

"She's gone, isn't she?" Tao asked, breaking the silence after a couple of minutes.

"It looks like she must have passed away almost as soon as grandmother and I had left the room." Lin said, nodded her head in agreement, "It doesn't look like she was in any pain when she died. She looked so peaceful when I found her."

"It was to be expected, her body couldn't handle the stress placed on her by the labor," Cologne said, as she stared at her granddaughter sympathetically, "when she was still recovering from the injuries that she sustained in that accident. If she could have had two more months to fully recover she ___may_ have survived the birth."

"So what are we going to do with Yuki? Do we keep him?" Tao asked, as he looked at the sleeping newborn, who had fallen asleep shortly after having another feeding and diaper change, completely oblivious of everything that was going on around him, "Did Hikari tell you where her family is?"

"No. She didn't want Yuki to be sent back to her husbands family." Lin said, as she frowned at her husband for daring to even suggest such a thing, "She didn't want him to grow up having to be afraid like everyone else in that family is because of the curse."

"So what do you think we should do then?" Tao asked.

"Keep him of course!" Lin exclaimed, as she bent down to pick up Yuki's basket, and placed it on her lap, as she looked down at the baby as he slept on, "I want to keep him, Tao. We could give him a loving family, and Shampoo could do with a sibling I would think."

Tao stared at his wife thoughtfully, as he watched her look at the baby so lovingly; realizing that Lin had grown attached to the newborn already and wouldn't give him up. He knew perfectly well that once Lin made up her mind about something, there was no changing it.

"I think it would be a grand idea for you to take him, Lin." Cologne said before Tao could say anything more, as she stared at her granddaughter's face when she looked up at her, "He'll need help adjusting to his Jusenkyo curse as he grows older, something his father's family wouldn't be able to do if we managed to find a way to send him to them."

"What do you think, husband?" Lin said, as she glanced over at Tao, the look on her face almost daring him to say disagree with her on this, "We are going to keep him whether you agree or not."

"I agree with both of you about taking him in. We could provide him with a loving family right here in the village." Tao said, sighing as he got out of his seat and moved to kneel at his wife's side so he could look at into the basket at the sleeping baby, "I liked Hikari also, and I feel that we should do this one last thing for her."

"I'm so glad that you agree with me," Lin said, as she grinned at her husband."

"I'll be leaving the two of you now," Cologne said as she got onto her staff and started pogoing towards the front door, "I'll go start making preparations for Hikari's burial."

"All right grandmother," Lin called as she waved the older woman off, before turning back towards her husband and the baby, "We can put him in Shampoo's room until we can make room for him in Hikari's old room, all right?"

"Fine with me." Tao said, as he stood up and started gathering the dirty dishes to take them to the kitchen and wash them.

Lin looked back down at the baby a moment, as she reached out a hand to touch the gray colored fuzz sticking out of his head, "Welcome to our family, Yuki Pu."

* * *

Eleven years later 

Two young girls carrying bo staffs ran through the forest, as they rushed to get back to their village in time for lunch, before their great grandmother got angry with them.

The oldest of the two looked to be no older than ten years old, with bright purple hair that went down to just above her knees. The other girl looked to be nine, with violet eyes and medium length gray hair tied back into a ponytail.

"Shampoo wait up!" the younger girl cried out, lagging behind as she stopped to catch her breath, leaning against a nearby tree as she took out a canteen and took a long drink. "I need to stop for a minute."

"Yukina come on! Don't be such a slowpoke!" an irritated chibi Shampoo cried, as she glared at her younger 'sister' as she trudged along. "You won't be able to become a good warrior if you can't keep up."

"Sorry big sister," the girl, Yukina, said as she looked at her older sister resignedly, as she finally caught up Shampoo, stopping to catch her breath as she did so as Shampoo waited patiently. "But I've been training with you all day and I'm too tired to be running through the woods like this..."

"You just don't want to go back to the village yet, seeing how this is supposed to be your last day as a girl for the next month." Shampoo said teasingly, as she rested a hand on top of her siblings' head for.

"I still can't see why elders make me stay one month in both forms." Yukina said with a slight pout as she looked at her sister sadly. "Being a girl is more fun."

"You only say that because you don't have to do any of the chores the men have to do when you're a girl." Shampoo scolded, as she walked towards "The elders just want you to know what it's like to live as both a boy and a girl and get used to your ___other_ curse in both forms. Since you really are a boy..."

"'I should learn what boys do or else if I spend my whole life in my girl form, I'll never be able fully understand both of my forms,'" Yukina piped in, cutting into her sisters words, as she mimicked what the village elders had told her the day they had given the punishment to her.

"Well you deserved it for pushing Tam Pon's grandsons into one of the Jusenkyo pools," Shampoo said, reminding her 'sister' of a certain incident the younger girl that had led to her current situation. "If you hadn't done that you wouldn't have to go through all of this, you know."

After an incident involving 'accidentally' knocking two of the local village boys into the pool of drowned skunk because they were constantly teasing her about her two curses, when 'Yukina' had hit her eighth birthday a year ago, the village elders had voted that Yukina should spend more time in both her forms as she grew older.

For one month she had to stay in one of her girl form learning the way the women of her village, then spend the following month in her boy form as 'Yuki', and learning the ways of the boys in the village.

Even if she accidentally changed into her other gender during the one of the months, she had to immediately change back to the proper gender or else she'd be punished, and it was starting to irritate the young aqua-transsexual.

"I stay in my male form plenty of times," Yukina whined, as she looked at her sister angrily, as a small pout appeared on her features. "Just because I don't stay in it full time doesn't mean I should be punished if I'm in the wrong body during certain months."

"But not enough, since you barely stay in that form, just so you can get out of doing the chores the other boys usually have to do ___all_ the time." Shampoo scolded as she reached over towards her sister and put her arm around Yukina's neck in a hug, "Your just lucky great-grandmother stepped in to save your butt."

"Some save..." Yuki muttered under her breath, earning herself a sharp whap on the head from Shampoo's bo as the older girl frowned at her. "___OW!_ What was that for?!" Yukina exclaimed as she rubbed her aching head while glaring at her sister.

"Be more respectful, Yukina!" Shampoo reprimand, as she glared at her sibling, "I think your punishment would have been a lot ___worse_ if great grandmother hadn't suggested this to the council."

"I know, I know." Yukina said, as she continued following Shampoo up the road to their village in silence.

* * *

The two girls were almost to the gates leading into their village when they heard the familiar cry of one of the village boys shouting at them. 

"_SHAMPOO MY LOVE!!!_"

Looking up both girls saw a young boy dressed in flowing white robes, with a pair of thick eyeglasses perched on his nose running straight towards them with arms wide.

"You're boyfriends here, sis." Yukina teased, as she smirked at her sister.

"Oh no." Shampoo moaned simultaneously, as she glared at Mousse angrily, as she stepped aside. "Stupid Mousse."

Both girls moved to get out of the way of Mousse's onward charge, but the blind boys excitement at being near his love made him speed up towards the nearest blurred figure that, latching onto her as soon as he felt his hands touch the soft cloth of her outfit, believing that it was Shampoo, until...

_**POOF!!**_

The next thing Mousse knew he was now clutching a small pile of empty clothes. Looking down at the clothes, he could see the blurry image of a tiny gray mouse climbing out of the clothes, and was now glowering up at him from on top of the pile.

"Mousse!!! Put your glasses on!" Yukina exclaimed as she glared up at her closest friend in irritation, as she tapped her tiny foot angrily, "This is the fifth time this time this week that you mistook me for Shampoo."

"Oops..." Mousse said, a sheepish note entering his voice, as he adjusted his glasses onto his nose, and looked down at the fuming girl- turned-rodent. "Sorry Yukina. I thought you were..."

"Shampoo, I know. It would be a lot better if you kept your glasses on at all time." Yukina snapped with a small sigh, her small ears flattening against her skull as she gave the blind boy a rat's version of a frown, "Do you mind putting me down, and going away before I change back to normal?"

"I said I was sorry," Mousse protested as he quickly put Yukina down on the ground, "It was an honest mistake."

"One which you seem to be making, Mousse," Shampoo said as she quickly bent over to pick up Yukina along with her discarded clothes and started walking away heading towards the hut she lived in with her parents, before Yukina changed back in the streets, and quickly dumped the rat in her room before along with her clothes before she changed back to normal.

"Shampoo I'm really sorry. You must know that it was ___you_ that I meant to hug and not Yukina." Mousse followed after the two girls, quickly adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose, as he squinted at the semi blurred image in front of him, just making out the purple hair. "If she hadn't gotten in my way I would have..."

"What do you mean 'Gotten in your way'?!" Yukina's squeaky voice cried out indignantly out from behind her closed door, "I was in the way?! If you had your glasses on your nose where they belonged this wouldn't have happened!"

"You'd think that after all the times blind boy has grabbed unto you, 'mistaking' you for me', that he's doing it on purpose just to grope you in your female form, Yukina."

"Shampoo! That... That's not true! You're the only girl I want. You know Yuki and I are just friends..." Mousse started sputtering in dismay, as a faint blush appeared in his cheeks at Shampoo's words, as he quickly denied what the purple haired girl had just said. "Yuki- chan's not even my type! She's not even that cute."

"Stupid Mouse. Who are you calling uncute?" Yukina cried from inside of her room, just as a loud _**POOF!!**_ was heard, and the two children could hear the sound of rustling clothes as Yukina hurried to get dressed.

"Don't think you can wait until I turn back into a boy, goggle eyes, for that 'not cute' crack." Seconds later a flustered Yukina emerged from inside of her room, fastening the last of the buttons on her outfit, as she shot Mousse a dark look, as she wielded one of her practice bonbori's in her hands.

"Yuki-chan, come on. You know I didn't mean anything by that..._ACK!!_" Mousse immediately backed away from the advancing girl, holding up his hands defensively, and quickly ducked a flying projectile, running out the front door with the two girls right behind him. "You've already made it a point of beating up all of the boys who try showing interest in you, and... Yipe!"

_Where did she get those things from?_ Mousse thought as he barely managed to dodge in time to avoid a mace, a bat, two bowling balls, as he ran around the village with Yukina right on behind him, before he quickly ducked behind a laughing Shampoo, earning himself a sharp thump on the head from Shampoo for his stunt.

_Okay, Note to self. No more insulting teaching Yuki dangerous techniques like the Hidden Weapon's move._ Mousse thought, rubbing his head as he squinted up at Shampoo's blurry frowning figure.

"Hey no fair hiding behind Shampoo!" Yukina cried out, pouting a bit as she scowled at the other boy, as she stopped short of hitting her elder sister with one of the bowling balls she had pulled out of nowhere.

"Shampoo! Please protect me from your little sister!" Mousse said, as he ducked back behind Shampoo, getting to his hands and knees.

"Mousse be man and take medicine." Shampoo scolded, while glaring over her shoulder at the bespectacled boy as he hid behind her, "You know that if you dare to insult Yuki-chan's 'cuteness' and must pay consequences, until you apologize."

"I'm sorry, Yuki!" Mousse cried out as he dodged another thrown projectile, though a grin was plastered on his face that mirrored the two girls, as he spent ten minutes running around outside the hut with Yukina right behind him until the silver haired 'girl' finally tackled him to the ground, and kept him pinned to the ground with her legs on his arms to keep him from moving, as she started tickling him.

Shampoo joined in on the tickling and soon the two girls had Mousse shrieking with laughter as he tried to break away from their combined assault until...

Just then the sudden sound of someone clearing their throat caused the trio to look up in surprise to see her Cologne standing in the doorway leading into the house, and Shampoo and Yukina quickly jumped off of their 'victim', looking innocent while Mousse quickly got to his feet.

"I see you youngsters are enjoying yourselves," Cologne said, a wry tone in her voice, as she stared at the three children.

"We're just having some fun, great-grandmother," Shampoo said, not looking at the elder as she dusted off her clothes.

"I can see that." Cologne said, a slight chuckle escaping her lips as she smiled at the trio, before turning his full attention on Yukina, "Yukina I want to speak to you in private before you go do anything else.." "What is it great grandmother?" Yukina asked, perking up at the elderly woman's words.

"You'll have to come with me to find out," Cologne simply said, as she looked Yukina directly in the eyes, before turning around and started pogoing back towards her own hut, "Your 'parents' and I believe that you are now old enough to receive this."

"What do you think that was all about?" Mousse asked, as he watched Cologne's blurry image hop off.

"It must be important if she wants to show it to Yuki by himself." Shampoo said, a slow pout forming on her features at the thought of being left out of whatever was happening.

"I don't know but I'm going to find out" Yukina said to Mousse and Shampoo, waving at them as she hurried off after her grandmother "I'll catch up with you guys later."

* * *

Later that evening, it was almost time for dinner, and Yuki had run off to be alone, leaving Shampoo and Mousse the job of hunting down the youngest member in their little group. 

Awhile later, Shampoo and Mousse found Yuki sitting on the edge of a nearby pond watching the sun set in the horizon, just staring off into space as he looked down at something he clutched in his hands.

Yuki was now in his male body, and was now dressed in dark blue robes, that fit his small form perfectly, as a pair of black sandals adorned his feet. His gray hair was pulled back into a long ponytail.

"Yuki! There you are! Everyone is waiting for you so we can start eating dinner." Shampoo shouted as she ran towards her sibling, and stopped.

The younger boy didn't answer Shampoo's call, until Mousse smacked him upside the back of his head to get his attention.

"_OW!!!_" Yuki cried out in pain as he swung around to face his assailant. "Mousse! What did you do that for?!"

"Mousse! Don't hit my little brother's head!" Shampoo cried out as she reached out to return the favor to the bespectacled boy, hitting him hard enough to have him winding up eating dirt.

"Great grandmother gave it to me." Yuki said simply, as he reached into a nearby basket that Shampoo hadn't noticed until just now, and pulled out what looked to be a thick book, "She told me that this stuff belonged to my real mother."

"Your real mother?" Mousse asked, confusion filling his voice as he stared at Yuki, "I thought Lin-san ___was_ your real mother. How come I never heard about it?"

"Silly Mousse. This shows that you don't know anything." Shampoo reprimand as she gave the boy next to her an annoyed look. "My parents adopted Yuki when he was a baby, after his mother died."

"Mom and dad told us this last year." Yuki said as he opened up the book he had pulled out, and started flipping through the pages, trying to make out the words written in it, "They thought we were old enough to understand the truth after all this time."

"Oh that makes sense," Mousse said, as he took a seat on Yuki's left side, while Shampoo sat on his right.

"Even I know that Yuki not Shampoo's brother/sister by blood, but that doesn't mean anything." Shampoo quickly countered, sticking out her tongue at the youth as she spoke, "Why do you think Yuki only one in our family who change into a Rat when she get touched by boy or girl depending on which form he's in?"

As the two children argued back and forth with one another, they stopped when Yuki suddenly let out a sound of frustration, as he tossed the book back into the box.

"What's wrong, Yuki?" Shampoo asked, concern filling her voice as she watched Yuki sulk.

"I can't read the book." Yuki replied, as he sat with his chin resting on his knees, "It's written in Japanese, and I'm not that good at it yet. I can barely make out some of the words on the pages."

"This shows what your goofing off has come to, Yuki," Shampoo said teasingly, as she smirked at her younger sibling, being careful not to touch him as she settled down next to him, "Tien-san would be so disappointed in you."

"At least I can speak it better than you do, Shampoo," Yuki said countered with a small huff, "It's the reading part that's hard."

"That's only because you haven't been paying attention to your studies, it would be easier to read." Mousse said as he reached into the box and pulled out the book, adjusting his glasses onto the bridge of his nose, as he opened it, "Since I'm better at reading Japanese, I could read it to you if you want until you finally master the language."

"I don't want you to read it to me! My birth mother left it for ___me_, and I'll read it ___myself_." Yuki exclaimed as he quickly snatched the book out Mousse's hands, and held out of reach, "I'll learn to read it myself, even if it kills me while trying."

"Oh this is pretty, can I have it, Yuki?" shampoo suddenly asked, causing the two boys to turn towards her to see that she had been looking through the box, and was now holding up the locket Yuki had tossed back in a few minutes ago.

"No!" Yuki exclaimed as he reached towards her to try and grab the locket from his sisters' hands, with little success as she held it out of his reach. "Hand it over Shampoo! I plan on wearing that myself."

"Why not?" Shampoo asked, as a small pout appeared on her features as she glanced longingly first at the locket then back at Yuki with disappointed eyes, as he manages to snatch it out of her hands, "It's not like your going to be using it. You don't even like jewelry, Yuki."

"That's besides the point, Shampoo. I want to keep it for myself," Yuki said, as he ignored the look he was now getting from his sister, as he clutched it in his hand from it's chain, "It has my birth mother's picture inside of it."

"Her picture? " Mousse asked, as he got closer towards Yuki, interest showing in his face as he does so, "Could we see what she looks like?"

"Yeah lets see what your real mom looks like!" Shampoo exclaimed as she reached for the locket and tried to take it from Yuki's hands, but the gray haired youth refused to let go.

"Quit it Shampoo." Yuki said, as he held the locket away from Shampoo, and gently pushed her away with his free hand, "You'll only break it if I let you open it."

Shampoo exclaimed indignantly as she glared at her brother, pouting all the while, "I will not break it!"

"Yeah right." Yuki said with a slight shrug of his shoulders as he grinned at Shampoo, before turning his attention back to the locket, "I'll show you guys the picture."

As the two children waited, Yuki brought both his hands over the locket, working his fingers over the clasp on the side of the lid, before finally flipping it over, and held it out so the others could see it's contents.

"Oh she's pretty," Shampoo cooed as she looked at the woman that looked resembled Yuki's female form, her eyes drifting from the image of the woman to the man and boy with her, "She looks just like you, Yuki- chan. And that must be your dad with her. But who's that boy with them?"

"How would I know who he is? I'm just seeing his picture now." Yuki said with a slight shrug of his shoulders, as he looked longingly at the picture, "There's another picture of him with two other boys."

"It says 'To Mom/Auntie, love Ayame, Shigure and Hatori'." Mousse said, after adjusting his glasses on his nose and squinted down at the inscription on the locket.

"'Mom'?" Yuki asked, his eyes widening as he heard what the writing said, wonder filling his voice as he stared in shock at Mousse, as he took the necklace away from the blind boy and looked down at the image of the three boys, "Does this mean I have a brother?"

"And a couple of cousins it looks like," Mousse said as he glanced back at Yuki, "One of these three boys must be your brother."

"It could be this boy here with the white hair who's sitting in front of your mother and father," Shampoo said, taking the necklace away, and looked at the two boys in front of her, "Who else could it be but him? He looks just like you. And he looks like he's my age. But this picture's so old now, he might be older by now."

"I don't care about a brother I never met." Yuki said, as he shut the locket tightly and stuck it into his pockets as he stood up, "I'm more interested in who my mom was."

"But Yuki, think about it." Mousse said, as he also stood up, dusting off grass from his clothes as he looked at the other boy, "If you have a brother out there somewhere, it means you still have a real family."

"I don't care. I don't need another family, when I have one right here. It's not like I'm ___ever_ going to ___meet_ the guy." Yuki said stubbornly, as he glared at Mousse over his shoulder as he bent to pick up the box, loading the journal back inside, "It wouldn't matter anyway. He's living who knows where in Japan, while I'm living right here in the village in China."

"That's true, but..." Mousse began, only to be cut off.

"Just drop it Mousse!" Yuki exclaimed as he glared at the bespectacled boy, as he turned on his heel still clutching the box in his hands as he started walking back to the village, "Come on, didn't you say we were late for dinner? Our moms are going to be mad if we're stay out any later while our food gets cold."

As the two children watched Yuki walk back to the village, they both shared a glance.

"Seems to me that he's taking the news that he's has a brother somewhere a little hard, Shampoo," Mousse said, as he removed his glasses and cleaned them on his robes, and put them back on.

"He was always asking our parents about who his real mother was once they had finally told us last year," Shampoo said as she got up and dusted off her own clothes, "I guess hearing that he's also has a brother somewhere is a bit much for him to take in right now..."

"I guess so..." Mousse said, looking thoughtful for a moment, when they both suddenly heard Yuki's voice shouting at them from the village.

"You guys! Come on!" Yuki shouted back.

"Hold on a second Yuki." Shampoo shouted as she started up the pathway towards the hill, and see's Yuki's outline being illuminated by the torchlight's that were now burning outside the village.

"We're coming!" Mousse added, as he followed after Shampoo, tripping a couple of times over objects in his way. **_

To Be Continued...

_**

**Author's Notes:**

I came up with this idea a long time ago, and it wouldn't go away, until I finally gave in and wrote it down. What do you guys think of it so far? Hate it? Like it? Loathe it? What? And should I continue it?

___looks sheepish_ I never saw got the last two Fruits Baskets dvds, so I don't know how the series ends yet, so bear with me please. But I saw the preview of the episode coming up on the third dvd, and saw how Akito looks.

The story will basically go by the Ranma ½ storyline, with 'Yukina' following Shampoo to Japan when she goes after girl type Ranma, and she might run into some of the Sohma clan later on. Another note is that Yuki ___won't_ have that asthma problem that he had in the original series.

Quick question. Can anyone tell me the name of the city/district ___plus_ the name of the High School that the Fruits Basket gang go to?

Has anyone else noticed how much Akito looks like Yuki, only with darker hair and black eyes?

Would anyone be willing to do a picture for me of Yuki, in both forms, standing/sitting back to back with one another?


	2. Chapter 1: Nerima or Bust! The New Amazo...

**_Disclaimers:_** As much as I may ___want_ to claim ownership of these two productions, I can't because both **_Fruits Basket_** and **_Ranma ½_** belong to a whole lot of different companies that I can't remember the names of at the moment. Any characters that appear in this fic that are not a part of either original series, belong to me so don't take them without asking first.

**_Author's Notes:_** Two things that ___everyone_ should know is that the ___new_ Yuki _**won't**_ have that asthma problem that he had in the original series; I've ___heard_ about the latest news involving Akito ___really_ being a ___girl_ in the comic, but I'm ___leaving_ him as a _**guy**_, because I ___need_ _**male**_ Akito for what I ___already_ have planned for this story, long before the latest info involving Akito's true gender came out, thus I'm not in the mood to change my well laid out plans because of a ___technicality_ that took the magna _**97 chapters**_ to reveal itself. Besides, remember this story is ___supposed_ to be an _**Alternate Universe**_ fic as well as a _**Crossover**_, so things ___CAN_ be a ___little_ different.

**_Summary:_** Seventeen years ago, a young widow ran away from the Sohma household, taking with her a secret that no one else in her family knew about. Traveling to China she died giving birth to a healthy baby boy with a curse, while staying in the village of the Joketsu Amazons.

**To my reviewers:**  
**_Enjen:_** No. Kyo won't be the 'Ranma' of this story. Ranma along with the rest of the Ranma ½ cast will be making appearances in the storyline along with the cast from Fruits Basket.

**_LittleBlackAngel:_** No. It's just going to be a Fruits Basket and Ranma ½ crossover. I just used 'InuYasha's' Naraku and Miroku's names because they were only the only one I could think of at the moment. ';

**_Skunktrain:_** In ___this_ chapter, the 'Present Day' timeline of my story is going to start in 2004, so now all Fruits Basket characters who were originally born ___before_ and ___after_ 1972-1982+ (this includes the year Hatori, Shigure and Ayame were born in, and the '+' includes the youngest members), are now born in between the year 1977-1987+. ' As for Ryouga and Haru, who knows? ___grins_

**_S-chan:_** Only time will tell. '

**_tessanlm:_** Yuki and the rest of the Ranma ½ cast will definitely be meeting up with the rest of the Fruits Basket in later chapters, if not in this one.

**_anime26angel:_** Definitely. '

**_hypersarcasticinternetaddict:_** Could you really draw the pictures for me? It would be appreciated if you do. '

**_L-sama's Shadow Puppet:_** I'm glad you like it so much. '

**Glossary:**  
"**_bold-italics_**" - Chinese  
"**bold**" - Japanese  
**bold-underline** - Signboard writings  
'_italics_' - Thoughts

**Nezumi ½**  
Chapter 1: Nerima or Bust! The New Amazon in Town  
By: Princess Star Neko  


Nerima, Japan - Present Day

It was a cold, rainy day, and the citizens of Nerima were bustling through the busy streets on their way home or back to work. So no one paid any attention to the lone figure walking down the street in the rain.

A lone figure, dressed in a long gray hooded cloak that reached to his feet made it's way through the crowd, carrying a large pack on their back while splashing carelessly through puddles as they looked around in search of something.

'_Where is it? Those ladies I spoke too said the shop was on this street,_' the figure wondered, as he stopped underneath the awning of a shop so he was out of the rain. Pulling back the hood of the cloak, revealed a teenage girl with long gray hair and violet eyes. '_but with all this rain I can't see the sign._'

Once out of the rain, she pulled out a slightly damp piece of paper from the sleeves of her cloak and looked it over, trying to make out the instructions written on it, but was barely able to read it because most of the ink had gotten smeared because of the rain.

'_Great. This is just great. Maybe someone around here can tell me where it is._' the figure thought ruefully, as she looked around for someone to help him. '_LinLin and RanRan had better be right about their directions to great-grandmothers restaurant._'

As she turned to look around, her stomach suddenly let out a low growl of hunger when her nose picked up the delicious aroma of cooked food coming from the shop behind her, causing her to turn around and looked inside.

"'Uchan's Okonomiyaki Restaurant'?" the figure said, repeating the words on the sign as she peeked in through the window to see a teenage girl standing behind a large grill flipping over pancakes.

"I really should continue looked for great-grandmother's restaurant," Yuki thought to herself, as she stared longingly through the window, just as her stomach let out another growl, and sighed.

'_This'll teach me to pack something to eat while I'm riding on a plane._' Yukina thought silently to herself, as she walked towards the front door, pushing it open as she walked inside.

* * *

'_I really hope Ran-chan comes over today, I can try out my new recipe on him and see what he thinks. _' Ukyou thought wistfully as she took the order of one of her customers, and returned to the cash register to tally up the bill, before moving to the grill, '_ Maybe he'll like it so much that he'll realize that I'll make the perfect bride for him._'

After coming straight to her shop once school was over for the day, Ukyou had quickly got out of her school uniform and into her usual work clothes, and headed back downstairs to open up. Not long after she opened the doors, her usual gallery of customers trudged into the restaurant for lunch, and she had been busy working for the last couple of hours.

Ukyou looked up when she heard the door chimes ring announcing a possible customer entering her shop, and smiled as a cloaked figure entered the shop and took a seat at one of the empty bar stools and picked up a menu.

'_I haven't seen her around before._' Ukyou thought as she eyed the newcomer with interest, as she flipped over one of the pizza's she was fixing for one of her other customers, '_Must be new in town._'

"Hey there sugar, what can I get for you?" Ukyou asked, smiling as she walked over a few minutes later, "Anything in particular you want?"

"I want a Pork and Beef Okonomiyaki, please." Yukina said, her voice shaking as she spoke.

"Would you like something to drink?" Ukyou asked as she wrote down the order, while taking notice Yukina's accent, "Maybe some hot chocolate to take away the chill from the rain?"

"Sure." Yukina said, her smile growing wider as she starting pulling off her cloak, "That sounds good. I'd love a cup of it please."

As Ukyou prepared the cup of hot chocolate, she watched as the new girl pulled off her cloak to reveal that she was wearing navy blue robes similar to what Mousse usually wore, that had white lightning shaped patterns stitched into the sleeves, and draped the cloak over the side of her top of her chair.

'_I wonder if she's from Shampoo and Mousse's village?_' Ukyou thought as she brought the mug over to the counter and set it down in front of Yukina, "Here you go. Your Okonomiyaki will be with you soon."

"Thank you," Yukina said as she eagerly picked it up and started blowing on it to cool it down, before taking a cautious sip, smiling a bit at the taste as she drank some more. "This is good."

"I'm glad that you like it," Ukyou said as she started mixing up the batter for the pizzas, pouring it onto the hot grill to cook as she continued to watch Yukina, "I have a question for you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"What is it?" Yuki asked as she looked up at Ukyou from over her mug as she took another sip from the hot liquid.

"You looked a little lost when you came into my store, and I could tell from your accent that you must be Chinese," Ukyou said as she brought over the finished pizza's and set the plate in front of Yuki, "So I was wondering if you might know anybody named Shampoo or Mousse?"

"Shampoo and Mousse? Do you know them?" Yukina asked, her eyes lighting up as she realized that she had found someone who knew her sister and best friend, as she put down her mug to look at Ukyou eagerly, "Shampoo is my older sister, can you tell me where I can find them?"

"You could say that." Ukyou said ruefully as her suspicions were confirmed, returning to her grill to serve up more pizzas, for the other customers, "I've had a lot of encounters with them since I moved here a few months ago."

'_Great. Just what we need around here is more Amazons causing trouble, if LinLin and RanRan were any indication._' Ukyou thought to herself as she eyed Yuki with open suspicion.

"They work in the restaurant across the street from here, with Shampoo's great-grandmother." Ukyou said, as she pointed towards the entranceway at the building across the street, "As soon as you finish eating you can head over there."

"I thought it was somewhere around here," Yuki said as she munched on her pizza as she followed the path of Ukyou's hand and just barely made out the building she was talking about, "but with all the rain I couldn't see anything."

"I've been doing some traveling," Yuki said with a slight shrug of her shoulders, "so I didn't find out that my sister and great-grandmother were no longer in the village until after I returned home a few weeks ago."

"Who else do you know in Nerima besides the Amazons?" Ukyou asked, just then, the shop bells rang signaling that someone else had entered the restaurant, and she looked up to see two familiar figures walking into restaurant while in a heated argument.

"Well besides being here to see my family, and meet my new brother-in-law that I've hear about," Yuki said with a slight shrug of her shoulders as she returned to her pizza, "I also came to see an old friend who I met in China..."

"...Look Akane, I don't flirt with the other girls," the redhead was saying to their companion, "If you weren't as blind as Mousse is, ya'd notice that ___Shampoo's_ the one who's always..."

"Excuse me for a moment would you, Yuki?" Ukyou asked as she walked away from the back counter to greet the newest arrivals, "Ranchan! What could I do for you today? The usual order, sugar?"

"Hey, Uchan, how's it going?" Ranma asked, smiling at the chef as she approached him and Akane, "Can we get six dinner specials for tonight? We're kind of in a hurry to get back home before the rain starts up again."

"Sure Ran-chan, I'll have them ready in a jiffy," Ukyou said as she turned back to the grill and started preparing the orders, while chatting happily with Ranma as he took a seat at the bar with Akane.

'_Ranma?_' Yuki thought to herself as she shifted in her seat to glance over her shoulder to see the new arrivals for herself, '_So it is him, who would have thought I'd meet up with him so soon._'

Yuki twisted on her seat to see the new arrivals, to see two girls approach the bar and take seats across from her. Yuki ignored the first girl, who was dressed in a light blue girls school uniform with a brown rain jacket hanging open, while her companion was a buxom red headed girl wearing a white Chinese styled shirt with black, with her hair tied back in a pigtail.

"Ranma?" Yuki asked as she called out Ranma's name eyeing the redhead up and down as she turned to face her, "Are you Ranma Saotome?"

* * *

A Few Minutes Ago

"I don't see why we have to come to one of your other fiancé's to get dinner, Ranma," Akane was gripping to her errant fiancé, as they walked towards Ukyou's restaurant, "There are plenty of other restaurants around here we could have gone to, Ranma!"

"Oh come on Akane, if I remember correctly, Everybody back at the house," Ranma said frowning a bit as he glared back at Akane with a hurt look on his face, "you know, you weren't complaining this much when ___everyone_ else voted on Ukyou's place to get dinner."

"I didn't see what difference it would make, either choice would have both of them fawning over you while we waited for our food," Akane snapped as she glared at Ranma angrily, "I don't see why you don't just marry one of ___them_! Your always flirting with your ___cute_ fiancé's when I'm around."

As soon as he reached the doors of the restaurant and pushed them open, he saw that Ukyou seemed to be talking with one of her customers, so he continued his conversation with Akane.

"You'd think you were jealous from the way you're acting. Look Akane, I don't flirt with the other girls," Ranma said, angrily as he pushed open the door to the restaurant "If you weren't as blind as Mousse is, ya'd notice that ___Shampoo's_ the one who's always..."

"Ranchan! What could I do for you today?" Ukyou's voice suddenly cut into whatever Ranma was about to say, and saving him from a trip into the atmosphere via Akane's mallet. "The usual order, sugar?"

"Hey, Uchan, how's it going?" Ranma asked, as he turned towards the chef as she approached him and Akane, "Can we get six dinner specials for tonight? We're kind of in a hurry to get back home before the rain starts up again."

"Sure Ran-chan, I'll have them ready in a jiffy," Ukyou said as she turned back to the grill and started preparing the orders, while chatting happily with Ranma as he took a seat at the bar with Akane.

"Ranma?"

When Ranma heard his name being called he turned to look in the direction of the voice, to see a beautiful gray haired girl that looked to be close to his own age scrutinizing him from her seat. As he looked the girl over, he couldn't help but think there was something familiar about her.

"Are you Ranma Saotome?"

"Yeah that's me. Who wants ta know?" Ranma asked as he looked the girl over, trying to figure out where he had seen this girl before, when realization hit him, as his eyes widen in surprise, "Yuki! Hey it's you!"

"Nihao Ranma. Long time no see. I didn't think you'd be the first one I'd see in Nerima." Yuki said as she grinned at Ranma, before launching herself towards him, only to be stopped when Ranma caught her at arms length, "Aw, your no fun."

"Yuki, no hugging, ___especially_ not now," Ranma exclaimed as he tried to keep the girl at arms length, as he glanced around at Ukyou and Akane, sweat dropping a bit when he saw the blood red battle aura's forming around the other girls along with how their narrowed eyes were glaring at the two of them, "This ___really_ is a bad time."

"Why?" Yuki asked when she finally noticed the sudden rise in the restaurant's temperature, and looked around Ranma at the other girls and her eyes widened in surprise, "Oh... Are these your friends?"

"You could say that..." Ranma said, flinching a bit as both Akane and Ukyou turned accusing glares on him, "Girls let me explain!"

"Ranma who's she!" Akane demanded, a low growl escaping from her mouth as she glared at the well endowed strange girl who had launched herself at Ranma, "Is she another one of your floozy fiancé's?"

"___Who_ are ___you_ calling a ___floozy_! I don't see what business it is of yours," Yuki said as she turned her attention fully on Akane, her own eyes narrowing angrily as she glared at the other girl, "It's not ___nice_ to make rude ___assumptions_ about people you don't even know."

"If the shoe fits! " Akane countered, as Mallet-sama appeared in her hands as she turned her glare on Ranma, "You were about to jump him as soon as you found out whom he was."

Ukyou exclaimed as she started to brandish her battle spatula, "Ranma how ___could_ you!"

"Hey Akane, Uchan! Wait a second, would ya!" Ranma said as he released Yuki and held up his hands towards the other girls, "It's not what ya girls think. Yuki's an old ___friend_ of mine from China."

"Some ___friend_," Ukyou said, as she looked between Ranma and Yuki who was looking the trio in confusion, "She's from Shampoo's village, and she's Shampoo's sister."

"Your Shampoo's sister!" Ranma exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock as he stared at the girl in front of him, "Oh boy..."

"Yeah, she's my big sister," Yuki said as her gaze looked at the three martial artists in confusion, sensing the tension that was already mounting in the restaurant, "Is that a problem?"

"You don't know do you?" Ranma deadpanned.

"Know what What's wrong? Is it about my sister?" Yuki asked, his confusion growing as she looked at the others, taking note of the dark looks Akane and Ukyou were shooting her way, "I've been doing some traveling for the last couple of months, and all I know is she came here looking for her runaway husband."

"Look, Yuki, it's a long story that we shouldn't get into right now, maybe ya ought to wait and talk to Shampoo about it?" Ranma said waving his hands in a dismissive gesture, as he looked from Yuki to his fuming fiancés, '_If Yuki doesn't know, then I'm **not** going to tell him about it yet._'

Ukyou and Akane were watching the duo with narrowed eyes and rising battle aura's, staring incredulously at the scene before them as Ranma and the strange girl talked with each other.

"So you guys met at Jusenkyo?" Ukyou asked as she eyed the duo jealously, eyes narrowed at how close the two seem together.

"Yes, we spent a few weeks hanging out together," Yuki said as she looked back at Ranma with a wistful look on her features, "before his father caught up with us and Ranma left with him."

"How can you be ___buddies_ with an ___Amazon_? Every Amazon we've ever met either wants to ___kill_ you" Akane demanded, as jealousy filled her voice, as she looked over the new girl, her eyes raking over every curve and as she felt her jealousy build by the second, "or ___marry_ you, so what makes ___her_ so different? Don't tell me you beat ___her_ in combat too!"

"Ew! Don't even go there, you uncute tomboy! I ___already_ told ya once, Yuki's an old ___friend_ of mine. Besides, I think that ___before_ the two of you go biting my head off," Ranma exclaimed, making a face as he glared at Akane and Ukyou, then turned his glare full force on Yuki who she could hear snickering behind his back, "you should ___know_ something about Yuki. ___He's_ a ___guy_! ___He's_ cursed ___just_ like ___me_!"

"Huh?" Ukyou and Akane chorused as they both looked over at Ranma for a second, then they both turned their gazes back towards Yukina who was watching the trio with an amused look on her face.

"What? " Yukina asked innocently, as she stared back at the other two girls, as she took another sip from her cup of hot chocolate.

"Is he telling the truth?" Akane demanded as she eyes the silver haired girl suspiciously as she felt some of her anger die down, "Are you really a guy?"

"Yeah, he's telling the truth. I'm really a boy who turns into a girl just like Ranma," Yuki said with a slight shrug of her shoulders as she grinned at the two girls, before a serious look appeared on her features, "Okay, what gives with all the dirty looks? What do you girls have against my sister so badly?"

"Other than the fact that she's trying to steal my fiancé?" Akane demanded as her battle aura flared up once more, "Then nothing much."

"If you're here to help her drag Ran-chan back to her village then you're out of luck, sugar," Ukyou added in, as she handled her battle spatula threateningly as she shot a glare at Yukina.

"Hold on a second." Yuki demanded, holding up a hand to silence the other girl as she turned her gaze back to Ranma, new understanding lighting up the youths eyes, "So ___you're_ the wayward husband I've heard about that my sisters been tracking for the past year?"

"Hey! I'm not Shampoo's husband!" Ranma exclaimed heatedly as he scowled a bit at the girls for bringing that reminder up in front of Yuki, as he look at his friend uneasily, "We never"

"Sorry to disappoint you Ranma, but you are her husband, whether you like it or not." Yuki said, as he cocked his head to one side to watch the other boy's antics, "You beat my sister in combat didn't you?"

"Not exactly. The first time I beat her," Ranma said as a sheepish look appeared on his face, as he looked away from Yuki's now penetrating gaze, "I was in my girl form back when pops and I was still training in China."

"The '___first time_' you beat her? Just how ___many_ times did you fight her," Yuki exclaimed in surprise, as his violet eyes widened in shock, "and if you beat her in your girl form first ___why_ isn't she ___still_ chasing you to ___kill_ you?"

* * *

Flashback, Jusenkyo - One Year Ago

It was a warm summer day in China. The silence around the valley around Jusenkyo was suddenly broken by a loud...

"_KIYAH!_"

For the past five years, Yuki had been coming Jusenkyo to train by himself, working hard at perfecting his martial arts skill, while helping the middle aged guide out around the springs.

When he was eleven, Yuki had approached to guide for permission of using Jusenkyo to train, but had been turned down flat because the guide believed that it was too dangerous for someone his age to train in Jusenkyo. It had taken over twenty-five trips, and a few bribes involving bringing the guide lunch with each trip, along with his favorite sweets, before he finally got his permission to train there.

Yuki had been practicing a few katas on the poles surrounding the pools of Jusenkyo, while the Jusenkyo guide watched on in surprise below, as the gray haired young woman launched a high flying spinning kick that took his high into the air and away from the pole he had once been standing on, finally letting out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, when he landed safely on one of the other poles without staggering once.

Yuki's body had considerably filled out of the years in both his forms. When he was in his female form he stood at 5'0", while his male form stood tall at 5'5". He kept his hair hanging loosely or sometimes in a ponytail. Both forms were well toned and after years of training in martial arts.

Much to Yuki's displeasure, he had become the most sought after youth of his generation, from both the female ___and_ male population in his village who had an interest in either one of his forms. Causing him to be the envy of both the boys and girls living in his village, gaining himself many admirers and potential suitors of both sexes.

It didn't seem to no longer matter that he couldn't exactly have a real relationship with any of them, because of the nature of his first curse, but it didn't deter them from trying to get close to him to try and win some kind of affection, and win his/her hand in marriage.

After the ___fifteenth_ marriage challenge from one of his male admirers, Yuki finally got fed up with it all, and went to Cologne to see if she could talk to the elders into doing something about it.

* * *

Second Flashback, a few weeks ago

"Yuki you have to stop beating up all of your suitors," Cologne said, as she frowned at her teenage grandson, from over her cup of tea, "Pai has been complaining about all of the suitors that have been brought in the medical hut after a match with you."

"I never asked for any of them to challenge me to a marriage duel, grandma. At least most of the boys in the ___village_ finally stopped after awhile." Yuki said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, as he looked at his grandmother, "They're just lucky a few broken bones is all they received."

"I don't see what the problem is, Yuki. All of your suitors come from good family stock in the village, so I can't see why you're so determined to not lose to any of your challengers," Cologne said as she shook her head a bit at what he had just said, as a small smirk appeared on her features, before it was replaced by a serious looking scowl, "It's ___past_ time for both you and your sister to settle down with someone and start giving me some new grandbabies, boy."

"Now, ___that's_ something I wanted to talk with you about, great-grandmother," Yuki pleaded as he sat in front of Cologne on the floor, as they shared a cup of tea. "Great-grandmother, can't you ___please_ do something to stop the marriage challenges?"

"___Why_ would I do a thing like that?" Cologne aksed, surprise filling her voice at Yuki's request as she eyed the younger boy with a curious look on her face, "The marriage challenges is the way of life around her. No one in the village is exempted from it. You ___know_ that, Yuki."

"I know, but I don't want to be stuck in a marriage with somebody I don't love, ___especially_ if it winds up being to another guy." Yuki said, as he sat back on his heels with a worried look on his features, "Can't the laws be changed, or a new one be made in my case?"

"Yuki, you know the laws of our village as well as anyone," Cologne chided disapprovingly, as she looked at her adopted grandson, while she sipped her tea, "No one is exempt from the laws, you know that."

"You know I couldn't make a good marriage to ___anybody_ anyway because of my other curse," Yuki pleaded, as he gave Cologne his best puppy dog eyed look which had always gotten him out of trouble in the past, "so what's the use of me upholding the Amazon marriage law?"

"The laws are the laws, Yuki. If you are beaten in combat by either an outsider or by someone in the village asking for your hand in marriage," Cologne said, her frown deepening as she stared at her grandson, becoming worried when she saw the pained and distressed look in his eyes, "then you ___have_ to marry that person."

"I know, I know. But tell me what's the point of ___me_ following Amazon marriage law if I ___can't_ even remain ___human_ long enough, without instantly transforming into a rat once I've been touched by the opposite sex depending on which gender I'm in?" Yuki asked, a scowl appearing on his features as he looked away from the older woman, "___When_ and ___if_ ever I finally get beaten in combat, all I'm going to be good for is either being an untouchable trophy for my new spouse, or a ___pet_ they sometimes can cuddle with."

Cologne sighed loudly, as she realized that Yuki ___did_ make a good point in this argument, feeling sympathy for the youth and what he must be put through because of their villages laws, but felt that she couldn't.

"The laws have always remained the same for the past three thousand years of Amazon history." Cologne reprimanded, as she scowled at her grandson as he stared back at her with an unflinching gaze that most of the Amazon boy would have when addressing an Elder, "I thought you ___understood_ that by now."

"But they've been around since before I came along. Under the circumstances," Yuki countered as he looked Cologne directly in the eyes, as she gave her his best puppy dog eyed look, "___Wouldn't_ it better for everyone around, if you and the rest of the elders make a new ___special_ law made just for me?"

'_The boy's come up with a few good ideas._' Cologne thought silently to herself, as she took another sip from her cup of tea, '_I was thinking about something similar to that myself until he brought it up._'

"Yuki I..." Cologne started to say, only to be cut off when Yuki quickly started speaking up again.

"Couldn't you at ___least_ consider it, and bring it up with the other elders?" Yuki pleaded, thinking that whatever his grandmother had been about say would be another argument over the village laws, "All I want is to be able to find ___somebody_ I'd want to marry who ___won't_ activate my ___other_ curse the second they touch me."

"Fine boy, I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do," Cologne finally said after a few moments of silence, "I believe that the other elders would have to agree with me that something must be done on this matter."

End Flashback

* * *

The ___only_ good thing that came out of the whole thing, was that great-grandmother Cologne had called a special meeting with the village elders a few months ago, and they had come up with a brand new Amazon law just for him, that put a stop to most of his pursuers advances.

The law stated that Yuki would be exempted from a few of the old laws, like the marriage and death laws, because of his ___special_ circumstances, and any Marriage challenge issued and won by any Amazon wouldn't stand unless Yuki ___agreed_ to go through with the wedding even if he ___did_ happen to lose the fight without facing punishment.

"Miss Yuki, you should be more careful!" The Jusenkyo guide cried worriedly as he watched the young girl, while dabbing at his sweating forehead with a handkerchief as he watched the teenagers antics on the poles, as he finally jumped down and picked up a discarded towel as he walked towards him, "Your going to put this poor old man in an early grave if you keep that up."

"Don't be such a worry wart, Mr. Chang. There's nothing to worry about." Yuki said with a dismissive shrug as she walked towards the older man, as she toweled off the sweat from her face, "I've been training here for the couple of years and haven't fallen in have I?"

"I'm ___more_ worried about what your mother and great-grandmother would do to me if you fell in, to one of the pools." Chang said, said wringing his hands together anxiously as he looked at Yuki, while pulling out a handkerchief to dab at his brow, "Your mother alone nearly scared me to death when she found out you were coming here to train by yourself. She ___scares_ me when she's angry..."

"Oh come on, my mother's just a worrywart when it comes to me, and she over reacts sometimes" Yukina said dismissively, putting her hands on her hips as she frowned at the older man, before turning away to look at the valley, "Mom wasn't ___that_ upset. If she was ___really_ angry, she would have carried out her threat immediately."

"Still, I would ___prefer_ to live out the rest of my days with ___all_ my body parts intact, Yuki," Chang said, shaking his head ruefully as he glared at the back of Yuki's head, "I ___knew_ it was a bad idea letting you train here."

When Chang turned his attention away from Yuki to look over at the springs, Yuki rolled his eyes at Chang's comment and smiled a bit as she started back towards the guides small hut to prepare the hot water.

'He's always saying stuff like that, but I know he misses "Well I'm calling it a day for now," Yuki said as he

* * *

Yukina was lounging in one of the chairs inside of the guides hut as he waited for the tea to be ready, while the guide sat outside to watch over the spring grounds, when they heard voices coming from outside, and stepped outside to investigate.

"Hey what's going on out there, Mr. Chang?" Yukina called out, as she stood up just as the boiling kettle let out a shrill whistle signaling that the water was done and hurried over to take it off of the fire, "Do we have some visitors?"

"Yes, it's two men approaching the springs." Chang said, as he stood up and started for the springs to warn the travelers off, "You take care of the tea for me, while I deal with them."

"Okay!" Yukina called back as she took out an oven mitt and grabbed the kettle off of the burner, and placed it on a trey setting on the wooden table.

As Yukina put out the fire, she could hear the voices of the visitors traveling into the hut, as her eyebrows creased in confusion as she recognized the language the travelers were speaking in.

"**So this is Jusenkyo, huh pops?**" a boys voice said in Japanese, sounding cynical as he spoke to his companion, "**It doesn't look ___that_ impressive to me. Are ya ___sure_ we got the right place?**"

"**Ranma my boy, looks can be deceiving. The brochure I found clearly showed that this is the ___ideal_ training ground for us.**" the older man said as he leaped onto one of the long poles sticking out of the ground, "**Now get up here, boy, so we can start training. I don't have all day.**"

'_Foreigners? ____Here_?' Yukina thought silently to herself, as she walked over to the cupboard and pulled out some tea cups and set them on the table, as she continued to listen to what was happening outside, '_And not very ____smart_ ones at that if they really think training **here** of all places would be the perfect spot!'

"**Honored sir's it's not good for you to fight here.**" Chang's voice called out to the visitors, as he tried to warn off the duo, "**Is very bad if you fall in one of the springs...**"

As she listened as the voices came in from outside, she shook her head ruefully as she realized that Chang was probably going to be needing some help in fishing out Jusenkyo's possible new victims from the pools if they continued to ignore him.

'_I better go out and see if I can help, Chang out._' She thought, as she poured some hot water into a cup, and splashed a little of the cups contents onto her hands and face, transforming back into her male body, and headed for the front door. '_Who'd be stupid enough to come to Jusenkyo to train without knowing about it's dangers?_'

As Yukina set the teacups on the table, she could hear the sound of Chang's voice calling out to the visitors, trying to warn them about springs, but from what she could hear, it seemed that the strangers were ignoring the guides' warnings.

Yuki turned his gaze in the direction the voice came from in time to see two figures not far from the hut discarding their backpacks, and doing some warm up exercise. Using his left hand to shield his eyes from the sun, he made out the figures of a young boy around his own age, while a fat, balding middle aged man stood by waiting impatiently for his companion to get ready.

He could see that Chang had finally reached the duo and was now yelling up at them as fought each other, trying to get them listen to him before it was too late.

As he came closer, she could see the duo jumping from pole to pole as they launched all out aerial attacks at each other, as they tried to catch the other one off guard and knock their opponent out of the air, and Yuki knew it would only be a matter of time before...

**_SPLASH!_**

Yuki groaned as he saw the boy land a lucky kick on the older man, sending the man flying off of his perch on the pole he was on, and into one of the nearby springs, while the boy celebrated his victory.

'_Oh boy, now they've done it._' Yuki thought, as he continued running towards where the others were, stopping only long enough to grab a pole that was leaning against the outside of the hut, '_Things just might get messy._'

* * *

"**All right!**" Ranma shouted, pumping a fist in the air, as he looked down at the pool his father had fallen into, "**Pops, get your fat butt into gear, and come on back up here so I can kick your butt again!**"

"**Oh very bad, young sir.**" Chang said, as he looked back up at the teenager with a saddened expression on his face, as he shook his head ruefully, "**Honored young sir's father fall into cursed pool.**"

"**Cursed? What do ya mean cursed?**" Ranma demanded as he looked down at the guide, confusion filling his voice as he stared at the older man, "**Is something wrong with the pools, mister?**"

"**Anyone who fall into pools become cursed to turn into whatever last drowned in it,**" Chang explained, his expression looking worried as he looked at the pool the other man had fallen into, "**Honored young sirs father fall into pool of drowned panda. Now he...**"

**_SPLASH!_**

**_GROWL!_**

"**Is cursed to turn into giant panda...**" Chang said, as he jumped out of the way of the sudden giant spray of erupting water coming from the cursed pool, as a huge furry black and white figure leapt out of the pool and back up to the poles.

"**What the hell!**" Ranma exclaimed as he watched as a huge black and white panda bear wearing a familiar white gi that was now torn in certain places, and was wearing glasses hanging off of one side of his face, leaped out of the pool he had seen his father land in, and land on the pole in front of him in a fighting stance, "**Pop! Hey, wait a second!...**"

Stunned at the sight of his father's transformation, Ranma made the mistake of letting his guard down, and that was all Genma needed to land a powerful punch on his son, and send him flying into one of the pools below.

"Hey what pool did that boy land in, Chang?" Yuki called as he ran towards the guide, worry filling his features, as he looked at the second pool of water.

"Aiyah!" Chang said sadly, as he looked at the pool the man had been knocked into, as he glanced back at Yuki when young Amazon reached his side, "This is not good. That's the pool of drowned girl."

As he waited patiently for the pools latest victim to reemerge from it's depths, pole ready to help pull them out of the pool if they needed it. It didn't take long.

With mighty splash of water, a red headed, girl in a white gi, that seemed to be now several sizes too small around the chest area, suddenly broke the surface of the pool, gasping for air as she floated in the water, as she looked angrily up at the pole that the panda was still perched on.

"**Stupid panda! What the hell did ya do that for!**" Ranma shouted up to the now bug eyed panda who was staring down at her, before her own eyes widened in shock at the unfamiliar sound of her voice, "**Hey, what's wrong with my voice!**"

As she brought her hands up to her throat, she found an unfamiliar obstacle in the way, and she glanced downwards at her chest, and lets out a ear shattering scream that could be heard throughout the valley, as she pulled open her gi to check and make sure that what he was seeing were really there.

"**What ___happened_ to me!**" Ranma cried out as he stared down at his new breasts in disbelief, "**Why do I have ___breasts_ now!**"

"**It's because you fell into the pool of drown girl. Now you are cursed to turn into a girl.**" Chang said, shaking his head sadly as he looked down at the newly cursed teen, "**Now you'll ___both_ have to deal with the consequences.**"

At that moment the panda jumped down from the pole it had been perched on, and was now gesturing wildly, making loud grunting and growling sounds as it tried to communicate with them.

"**Sorry sir, but I can't understand a word your saying,**" Chang said as he glanced over at the panda, holding his hands off in a warding gesture, "**I don't speak Panda.**"

"**You should have listened to the guide when he tried to warned you and your father,**" Yuki said, as he walked closer to the pool, and held out one end of the pole he held out to the girl, as she turned around to face him, "**Grab the pole and I'll pull you out.**"

Still shocked over what had just happened to her, Ranma-chan turned and waded forward to grab hold of the pole, tugging on it as Yuki started pulling her forward, until Ranma reached the edge of the pool and pulled herself the rest of the way out.

Once she was back on solid ground, the redhead brushed her dripping hair away from her face as she stared at the other teenager with an incredulous look on her face, as her eyes widened as realization hit her, before she looked back down at her own body.

"**What happened to me!**" Ranma demanded again, as he shot an accusing look at Yuki and Chang, as if trying to put the blame solely on them, "**What happened to my pop, and why am I a ___girl_ now!**"

"**Your 'pop' is up there,**" Yuki said, as he turned to point upwards at the panda who still staring down at them in shock, "**Just like you, he was changed when you knocked him into that spring.**"

"**___Both_ of you have been cursed by Jusenkyo, when you fell into the pool,**" Chang said, as he walked over to the two teenagers, shaking his head sadly, "**Is so sad for you, young sir, now you are cursed to turn into girl.**"

"**This ___can't_ be happening... This just can't be happening!**" Ranma muttered under her breath, as she looked down at her hands in shock, ignoring what was going on for the moment, "**I'm a ___guy_, damn it! I'm not a weak little ___girl_!**"

Just then the panda jumped down from it's perch to see what was going on, succeeding in only making loud guttural growls from deep in his throat as he tried to speak.

Yuki glanced over at the panda with wry look, as she looked the panda up and down for a moment, before finally speaking up, "**Sorry mister, but I don't speak panda.**"

The panda made a few more gestures, as he growled despairingly, before the guide came over with a broken sign and a black marker, and handed it to the panda.

"**Honored sir, maybe this will help. Just write what you want to say on this sign,**" Chang said helpfully, as he held out the two items.

The panda's large paws eagerly grabbed hold of the signboard and marker and started scribbling on it, and turned it over to face the others

**What happened to my son and me?** The sign demanded, before it was flipped over, to show another message, **Why did our bodies change! Is there a way for us to change back to normal? Tell me now or I'll...**

"**Or you'll what? What happened is all of ___your_ own fault, not ours.**" Yuki countered, putting his hands on his hips as he glared at the panda, his eyes narrowing at the implied threat written on the sign, "**It's not ___our_ fault that ___both_ of you chose to ignore the guide when he ___tried_ to warn you about training ___here_.**"

**Impudent boy!** Genma-panda's sign said, growling angrily at Yuki, before turning the sign over, and started scribbling some more, as the others watched, before turning the sign back around to show the other side, **Didn't your parents teach you not to speak to your elders that way!**

'_How's he doing that?_' Yuki wondered silently to himself as he watched Genma flipped the sign back to them to show a brand new message on the wood, with no sign of the old one in sight, '_Mr. Chang only give him the one signboard to write on._'

"**My parents teach me plenty, it doesn't mean I always use it.**" Yuki said with a huff, as she glared at the panda, "**But anyone would know better to come ___here_ to train, and ___not_ already know about Jusenkyo's cursed springs.**" crossing his arms across his chest as he scowled at the panda, and redhead, "**You two coming here without knowing before hand about what would happen if you fall into pools, makes it seem like you were just ___begging_ to get yourselves cursed.**"

"**Hey, ___I_ didn't know this would happen. If I did I wouldn't have come here, that's for sure.**" Ranma-chan exclaimed angrily as she glared at the other teen, as she pointed at her father, "**___He's_ the one who got the brochure that told us about this place, and he ___insisted_ we come!**"

**It's not my fault! The brochure was written in Chinese** the sign read when the panda saw the looks everyone was now giving him, just before it flipped over again to reveal another message, **There should have been a warning about this place in the brochure.**

"**That's impossible to believe.**"Chang said, also frowning a bit as he looked at Genma-panda, giving the panda a disbelieving look, "**There are translations printed on every brochure that's sent out.**"

**What translations! I didn't see any translations on the brochure!**

"**You mean you didn't see ___this_ translation that's on the last five pages of the brochure?**" Frowning a bit, Yuki pulled out his own copy of the brochure, turned it over to the back cover and read it out loud, "**'All travelers wishing to visit Jusenkyo are warned to be careful around the springs, for bad things will happen to any who fall into the springs...'**"

**Give me that!**

Genma-panda reached out a paw to grab the brochure and scanned the back, seeing that there was indeed a warning label on the back of the brochure that was translated into Japanese, along with several other languages, warning travelers about Jusenkyo.

"**Stupid old man! This is all ___your_ fault! Did you even ___bother_ to check the ___whole_ brochure out ___before_ deciding to bring us here!**" Ranma cried out, as she glowered at the sweating panda bear, as a large gold and red battle aura flared up around the redhead as she advanced on the panda, "**Why'd ya have to bring us to a place like this for!**"

**Now son, this trip was for the betterment of the school, Ranma!** Genma panda's sign said, as he flipped the sign over, backing away from his enraged so...er daughter, as she slowly advanced menacingly on him with a look on her face that promised ___extreme_ pain when she got her hands on him, **Where would a martial artists code of honor be if it's not fraught with peril and sacrifice?**

"**My code of honor is ___one_ thing, old man,**" Ranma snapped as she started advancing on the sweating bullets as it saw the angry look on it's new daughters face, as the youth started cracking her knuckles together, "**_But losing my _****manhood** is a completely**different** matter!"

**Now son, let's talk about this before you do anything hasty,** Genma-panda took one look at his son-turned-daughter, and the battle aura she was now giving off, and decided that the best course of action at that moment was to run.

In the next second, all the trio could see was a huge trail of dust that had been kicked up in the panda's retreat.

"**Pops get back here! This is all your fault!**" Ranma roared, as she started to give chase after the running figure, "**I'm going to kill you!**"

Before Ranma could take a step though, she suddenly found his path blocked by Yuki who now stood directly in front her with his arms spread apart, and she came to a skidding halt just inches from the other boy.

"**Get out of the way!**" Ranma shouted as she tried to move out of Yuki's path, only to find Yuki blocking her path at every turn, as her father got further away, "**That baka panda's getting away!**"

"**Stop! Killing him won't him won't do you any good.**" Yuki said, as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Ranma-chan, not budging an inch, and only moving in step with Ranma when it looked like she would try and get past him, and grinned a bit as he stared at the boy turned girl, "**Sure it's probably make you feel better, but it still won't do you any good.**"

"**What would you know!**" Ranma demanded as she balled up her hands into fists as she glared at the other boy, "**I'm a freak now, thanks to stupid old man of mine, and...**"

"**Hey, changing into a girl is not that bad.**" Yuki stated, sounding a little defensive as Ranma spoke, the amused look disappearing from Yuki's eyes as he stared at the redhead, "**Once you get used to it, the better off you'll be.**"

"**What would you know!**" Ranma-chan exclaimed, as she rounded on the gray haired teen, her eyes blazing angrily, "**You wouldn't know what I'm going through!**"

"**Says you. You don't know anything.**" Yuki said, his own anger filling his eyes as he glared back at Ranma-chan, before glancing back in the direction Genma had run in and didn't see any sign of the panda, "**Looks like your father get away. Before you go after him, do you want to change back?**"

"**Change back?**" Ranma-chan asked, a confused look appearing on her features as she stared at the teenager before her, "**What do ya mean by that?**"

"**What do you think I mean? Change back into a boy of course. There ___is_ a way for you to turn back to normal you know.**" Yuki sighed impatiently as he frowned at the redhead, smirking a bit when he saw the irritated look on the other teens features, "**Or do you ___want_ to spend the next few hours chasing your father as a girl?**"

"**You mean I can be a guy again!**" Ranma-chan exclaimed, her eyes widening in disbelief as she stared at Yuki then the guide as both nodded their heads in confirmation, "**All right! Why didn't ya say something before? If ya had the cure for the curse all along then...**"

"**Is not cure. There is no known cure to Jusenkyo curses. There is only one way of returning your real body.**" Chang said, cutting off what Ranma-chan was saying, causing the teen to turn her attention back on him, "**Hot or warm liquids will return you to your natural body...**"

"**While cold liquids will reactivate your curse, and change you back into a girl.**" Yuki added in, after seeing the disappointed look start to appear on Ranma's face at Chang's news, "It's like Chang says. It's not really a cure, just a temporary way to change back to normal until you get splashed again."

"**Can't I just jump into one of the other springs to cure my curse?**" Ranma demanded, as she followed after the two reluctantly, eager to return to his rightful body as soon as possible, "**There ___has_ to be a cure to this curse, ___ain't_ there?**"

"**Jusenkyo has been around for thousands of years, and no one's found cure for springs yet,**" Chang said as Ranma-chan turned her attention towards him, "**or if they did, there's no record of it.**"

"**Aw man...**" Ranma moaned, looking more down than before.

"**Don't take it so bad. At least with hot water,**" Yuki said good naturedly, patting Ranma on the back before turning around to walk back towards the hut, leaving Ranma and Chang behind, "**you ___can_ change back to your natural body, if only until the ___next_ time you get splashed.**"

"**I'll take anything as long as it gets my real body back!**" Ranma exclaimed, as she reached forward to grab Yuki's shoulders enthusiastically, her hands making contact with the Amazon before she had time to react and...

**_POOF!_**

"**What the...**" Ranma-chan exclaimed, coughing a bit as she waved away the smoke surrounding her. As the smoke cleared, she saw that the boy she had grabbed was nowhere to be seen.

"**Hey where did you go!**" Ranma demanded as she looked around for the other teen.

"**I'm down here...**" a muffled squeaky voice called out somewhere at Ranma's feet, "**Watch where you step please.**"

Ranma immediately took a few steps back, as she quickly glanced down at her feet to see the clothing the other boy had been wearing piled on the ground. As she watched the clothes, she could make out a tiny lump moving around in the clothing a few seconds before a small gray rat finally crawled out and glanced up at her.

"**What the heck happened to you! Why did you turn into a rat when I touched you?**" Ranma demanded as she bent down to pick up the rodent as gently as she could, and held it in her open palm, "**Did my curse do this to you?**"

"**In a way, it did...**" Yuki-Nezumi said, as he ran a small paw over the back of his head, as he looked back at Ranma's questioning gaze, before letting out a loud sigh, "**Looks like I'm going to have a ___lot_ of explaining to do...**"

End Flashback

* * *

"A rat!" Ukyou and Akane exclaimed simultaneously.

"Yeah a rat. Depending on what gender we're ___both_ in, I can't touch him or else he'll transform." Ranma said, a rueful smile on his face as he looked at the stunned look on the girls' faces before continuing, "Yuki's filled with a lot of surprises. Seems he's been cursed to transform into one of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac."

"Is that true or is Ranma simply saying that to get out of trouble," Ukyou said, as she gave Yuki an accusing look, almost daring him to lie to her.

"It's true. I'm double cursed. Since the day I was born, if I'm touched by the opposite sex, I'll automatically transform into a rat." Yuki said matter of factly, as she brushed a strand of hair from her face, as she leaned against the countertop, with her the backs of her elbows propped on top of the counter, ""

"But didn't Ranma say he was in his female form when it happened?" Ukyou asked, then continued when both 'girls' nodded in confirmation, "Then if you transform when the 'opposite' sex touches you, then why did you change if Ranma was a girl at the time?"

"Because I was a guy at the time when he hugged me. Like Ranma, I have the pool of drowned girl curse," Yuki said, shaking his head ruefully as he took another sip of now lukewarm chocolate, "which I was given to counteract the first one. Now I'll only turn into a rat depending on what gender I'm currently in or when I'm sick."

"That's funny. If you're Shampoo's brother, then shouldn't she be cursed the same way as you?" Ukyou asked, a skeptical look on her face as she stared at Yuki, "I know Shampoo's cursed to turn into a cat, but that's only because of Jusenkyo, right?"

"Nobody in my family is cursed the way I am. I'm adopted." Yuki said simply, quickly continuing when she saw the shocked looks on everyone's faces, "My real parents died a long time ago, and Shampoo's family took me in as a baby."

"Oh that's too bad," Akane said, feeling a bit sympathetic to the girl, as he looked, "But why do you change into a rat. Did you piss off somebody who cursed you with it?"

"It's a family curse, Grandma told me that my birth mother told her that it was something I inherited from my father's side of the family." Yuki said, shrugging his shoulders, "If someone in the family who has a Zodiac curse dies, the animal curse ___that_ person had is immediately passed on to an unknown, yet to be born baby in the family. Lucky me got the rat curse."

"Hey, so what do you look like as a guy?" Ukyou suddenly asked.

"Not that much different from what I look now," Yuki said, shrugging her shoulders as she spoke, as she quickly finished off the last of her pizza, "minus the breasts, of course."

Pushing away from the bar, she stood up and dusted off her clothes, as she reached out to pull back on her cloak. "Hey wait, before you put your cloak on, Ukyou said as she nodded towards the boiling kettle she had on the stove for hot chocolate, just as she turned the fire off, "do you guys want some hot water so you can change back to normal?"

"Sure," Yuki said with a slight shrug of her shoulders, as she sat back down on her stool.

"Thanks, Uchan, I really need it," Ranma-chan said.

After letting the water cool down a bit, Ukyou pulled out two glasses and poured the water into it and placed them in front of both Yuki and Ranma.

Ranma eagerly grabbed hold of her glass and upended it over her head, making the transformation happen instantly, and soon a brunette boy stood in place of where the redhead girl once was.

"Thank you for the water, Ukyou-san," Yuki said as she simply took his glass of water and splashed some of it onto her hands then brought her hands up to her face.

Both Akane and Ukyou sucked in the breaths, when they saw the instantaneous change in his appearance. As they watched Yuki's body became more masculine in appearance, his chest flattening out underneath his shirt, and he seemed to grow a few inches taller.

"Does this appease your curiosity?" Yuki said, as he turned his gaze back to the two girls, reaching out one hand to brush aside a loose strand of hair from his face as he smiled at them.

A few female customers who were close enough to hear the explanation, and see the transformation happen let out sighs of appreciation as they saw the now male youth, as he reached up to brush aside a lose strand of gray hair.

"So what do you think?" Yuki said, his eyes lighting up in amusement as he saw the stunned looks Akane and Ukyou were now giving him, "Not much of a difference between my male and female forms wouldn't you say?"

'_Oh my..._' Akane thought as she looked at Yuki in surprise as she felt her cheeks heat up at the sight of Yuki's male form, ''

'_He wasn't kidding when he said that he doesn't look any different in his male body. He looks cuter as a guy..._' Ukyou said as she looked on appreciatedly at Yuki's new form, as a slight blush crept up to her cheeks, before she shook her head repeatedly, '_No! What am I thinking? Ranma's the only guy for me. But still..._'

"Hey Ranma could you show me the way to the Neko Café," Yuki asked as he turned towards the other boy, when the girls didn't immediately answer him, "We could spend the time catching up."

"Sure, I've got nothing better to do," Ranma said as he swung his body around and climbed off of the barstool, and moved to stand beside the other boy, "It's just across the street, and Akane can wait here for the pizza's until I get back."

"Hey, Yuki," Ukyou suddenly called out, as she made her way around the bar, and towards the group as they almost reached the restaurant entrance, "Hold on for one more second would ya?"

"What is it?" Yuki asked, exasperation sounding his voice as he started to turn back around, his eyes widen in surprise when he suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around his body and...

**_POOF!_**

"_HEY! **WHAT** WAS **THAT** FOR!_" Yuki demanded from his spot on the floor, as he stood there in his rat form tapping a paw on the ground in irritation.

"So the part about changing into a rat ___is_ true." Ukyou said, as she bent down and gently scooped Yuki into her hands, and raised him up so that he was now eye level with her, "Sorry about that, but I ___had_ to see if what Ranma said about your other curse was true or not."

"You could have ___warned_ me first before you did that." Yuki said after glaring up at Ukyou for a second, Yuki sighed loudly and looked away, "Or at least ___asked_. It takes awhile for me to change back to normal. But as long as you hold me like this I won't change back..."

"Sorry, but I couldn't resist seeing if it was true or not," Ukyou said as she ran a finger gently over Yuki's head, as she stared down at the rodent in her hands, "Let's get your clothes and I'll take you to the backroom so that you can change back in privacy and..."

It was just then that Ukyou happened to look down to look for Yuki's clothes, and noticed that they were nowhere to be seen.

Confusion lighting up her face, she did a quick search of the floor for any sign of Yuki's clothes, but didn't see them anywhere on the floor. A quick look at Akane and Ranma showed that neither one had Yuki's clothes either, and both of the other teens were just as confused as she was as they looked around for any sign of Yuki's clothes.

"Hey, what happened to your clothes, Yuki?" Akane asked as her eyes did a quick scan of the floor, then around the room to see if anyone might have picked up the clothes while they weren't looking, but still didn't see them anywhere, "They should be right where you were when you transformed."

"Now that I think about it," Ranma said as a thoughtful look appeared on his features as he stared down at Yuki, as he also glanced around for the clothes, "I ___don't_ remember seeing them on the floor after Yuki changed..."

"Don't worry about my clothes, I have them taken cared of." Yuki said, bringing the others attention back to him, as he sat down in Ukyou's hand and let out a sigh, "If we could go to that room you were talking about just now, Ukyou?"

Within a few minutes the group was in the backroom, with Ukyou leaving one of her employee's in charge while she was gone. Once they were in the back room, Ukyou took Yuki over to a nearby table and let the rodent hop off her hand and onto the table, and quickly turned around to face them once more.

"If your wondering, I ___fixed_ the clothing ___problem_ a long time ago, thanks to a witch I ran into in my travels." Yuki said with a slight shrug of his shoulders, as he pointed a paw at his neck, where they could barely make out a miniaturized version of his locket around his neck, "She put a spell on my locket, so that whenever I change into a rat, whatever clothes I'm wearing at the time would be sent into a kind of storage space for the duration that I'm in my rat form, while the object that the spell is on is charmed to change size to fit it's wearer's new form."

"That's amazing," Ukyou said as she listened to Yuki's explanation for a few moments, as she glanced over at Ranma and Akane, "Useful thing to have around for some of the locals."

"How does this spell work exactly?" Ranma demanded as his curiosity had been piqued, as he stared down at Yuki, "Where do the clothes go exactly?"

"Don't ask me where they go. All I know," Yuki said as he shrugged his shoulders again, before standing to his full rodent height, as he glanced at each teen, "is that, thanks to the spell, as long as I have my locket on when I transform, my clothes will disappear, so that by the time I change back to normal..."

**_POOF!_**

"...I'll ___still_ be ___fully_ clothed, instead of being in my 'birthday suit'," Yuki said as he stood back up, taking a moment to stop and straighten his clothes, before glancing at the stunned looks on Ranma and the girls, "so I won't be having to hurry to put my clothes back on before anyone sees me."

"I can ___think_ a know a ___couple_ of people who would ___love_ to have that particular spell." Ukyou said absentmindedly, as she stared at Yuki for moment with a thoughtful look on her face, "Could you tell us where we could find this witch who put the spell on the locket?"

"I can do ___better_ than that, Ukyou-san. Luckily for you guys, I ___do_ know how to do the spell myself," Yuki said as he grinned a bit at the others, as he pulled on his cloak and fastened the strings around his neck, "I made it a point of learning it in case I needed to cast it on other objects."

"That's good to hear. That spell of yours," Ukyou said as a small grin appeared on her face, as she took a seat next to the table, and stared at Yuki for a moment with a thoughtful look on her features, "is going to save a lot of people some embarrassment. This way they can change back to have without having to risk being seen naked."

* * *

Cologne looked up from the cash register just as she was tallying the bill for one of her customers, in time to see Ranma and one of his friends enter her restaurant, and smiled a crooked smile at him. "Hello Son-in-Law, what brings you here today."

"Hey old ghoul! Is Shampoo around?" Ranma asked, his eyes scanning the small restaurant for any sign of the violet haired Amazon, and missed the glare Yuki was now giving him at the comment he made to Cologne, "I brought someone to see the two of you."

"Shampoo is out making deliveries with Mousse." Cologne asked, cackling a bit, as she stared at Ranma and his companion "So, finally come your senses and decide to marry my granddaughter, eh?"

"Not a chance in hell, old ghoul." Ranma said, glaring at Cologne until he felt a sharp kick to his legs, "OW! What was that for!"

"For calling her such a mean thing," Yuki said angrily, as she looked at her friend from under hooded eyes, "Show some respect to your elders Ranma."

"I'll show her some respect the day she stops trying to force me to marry Shampoo." Ranma said, glaring right back at Yuki, and crossed his arms across his chest stubbornly, "With all the things she's pulled on me lately, it's gonna be a ___long_ time before ___that'll_ happen."

"Well now, do my old eyes deceive me?" Cologne said as she moved away from the counter to move in front of the group, "Is that really you, Yuki?"

"**_Good afternoon great-grandmother,_**" Yuki said, as he pulled off his hood and stepped forward to and bowed to the elderly woman, "**_It's been a long time since I last saw you and Shampoo._**"

"Oh ho! So the prodigal son has come home?" Cologne said, cackling a bit as she hopped over to her grandson, and rapped him lightly on the head with her cane, "Where have you been boy? Your mother's been worried sick about you. And speak Japanese around this bunch."

"I've been around. I've been training, trying to find a way to cure my rat curse," Yuki said, rubbing the bump forming on his head, as he grinned down at the elderly matriarch, before bending down to scoop her up into a hug, "I came home a week ago to find out that you guys moved to Japan to catch Shampoo's wayward husband."

"Look I don't have time for this, old ghoul," Ranma said as he easily hopped to one side to avoid Yuki's kick, and made a break for the front doors just they were opening, "I gotta get home for dinner. I'll see you guys later."

"Ranma! You come take Shampoo out on date yes?" Shampoo asked as she snuggled up against the pigtailed martial artist, and shot a glare at Akane who was watching them with narrowed eyes, "What's kitchen destroyer doing here!"

"No way Shampoo! I only came here to show an old friend the way here," Ranma exclaimed as he tried to break free of Shampoo's grip with little success, "I gotta get back home for dinner before pops eats it all."

"You no have to go home to eat," Shampoo said, tightening her grip on Ranma's arm, as she looked up at Ranma with a pleading look in her eyes, "Airen should stay here with wife and eat dinner, then you can take on date."

"Sorry Shampoo, but I'm not taking you on a date, and for the last time I ain't your 'airen'," Ranma said, as he finally shook free of Shampoo, though the Amazon still had a death grip on his arm, "We're not married and we'll never will be. Besides that, I ___only_ stopped by to bring ___someone_ here who was ___looking_ for you guys.."

"Who you bring here..." Shampoo started to ask, as her voice trailed off when she finally caught sight of the familiar gray haired teen standing next to Cologne, her eyes widening in shock.

"Hi Shampoo, Mousse." Yuki who was now waving at her, from his spot next to Cologne, an amused smirk on his features as he watched his sisters antics.

"Well, will you look at who's here," Mousse commented as he stepped fully into the restaurant, and adjusted his glasses on his nose so he could get a better look at Yuki.

"_YUKI!_" Shampoo let out a loud squeal, as she immediately released Ranma and roughly shoved him away, as she quickly rushed towards Yuki and picked him up in a big bone crushing hug. "You've come back!"

Yuki winced as he heard his sister's familiar cry, just as Shampoo pounced on him, her arms wrapping him in a tight hug that took the breath out of him. Looking over shoulder he could see Mousse standing behind her with a bemused look on his face.

"Hi Yuki, welcome back," Mousse said after adjusting his glasses onto his nose, as a slight grin appeared on his features, as he watched what was going on between Yuki and Shampoo.

"**_Yuki, where you been? Everyone worry about you,_**" Shampoo scolded as she continued hugging the younger boy, wrapping her arms tighter around Yuki's body, "**_Don't go off again without keeping contact with everyone okay?_**"

'_Same old Shampoo,_' Yuki thought ruefully, as he let himself hang in his sisters embrace for a few minutes as Shampoo spoke rapidly in Chinese. "**_Sorry to have worried you so much, Shampoo, but I've been busy with training and lost track of time..._**"

'_Wait a second,_' Yuki thought as his words trailed off, as his body stiffening in shock as he suddenly remembered that he was in his male body, Shampoo was ___hugging_ him, and he ___wasn't_ changing into a rat, '_I'm in male form, and I didn't change. Why didn't I change?_'

Yuki glanced over his shoulder at his grandmother and the others to see that Cologne had the same bewildered look on her face that he was sure mirrored his own as she watched Shampoo hug him.

"Um, Shampoo..." Yuki said, as he reached up to try and push her away from him, only to feel her arms tighten around his body, "Could you let go of me for a moment?"

"Not letting go yet," Shampoo announced as she continued hugging him.

"Hey, Shampoo, you do know that Yuki's a guy right now, do you?" Ranma asked, surprise evident in his voice as he watched Shampoo squeeze Yuki.

"Silly, of course I know Yuki boy, airen" Shampoo chided as she looked over her shoulder at Ranma, giggling a bit at his question, as she continued hugging Yuki, "He's my ___brother_, so I know he boy, though only ___half_ the time, just like you."

"Shampoo, that's ___not_, what Saotome meant," Mousse said, as he took a step forward his eyes staring directly at the two with a curious look on his face, "He means that Yuki's a ___guy_ right ___now_, and your holding him without making him go poof."

"What? What stupid duck boy talking about," Shampoo exclaimed, looking at Mousse with an irritated look on her face, as she scowled darkly at the blind boy, before turning confused eyes on Ranma, "of course Yuki's not boy now, or else I wouldn't be able to hold him like this. You know that."

"**_Actually, I ____am_ a guy right now, Shampoo.**" Yuki's said with a sheepish tone in his voice as he spoke in Mandarin, "**_You've just haven't noticed it yet._**"

"What are you..." Shampoo immediately turned her attention back on Yuki with a questioning look, before her eyes traveled over his body, her eyes finally taking in Yuki's ___obviously_ male body pressing against hers as her eyes widened further in shock as she realized that the others were right. "Why did you not change? You always change before when in male form, so ___why_ not now?"

"Did you find a cure for your condition, Yuki?" Cologne asked.

"No grandmother. Last time I checked I still changed when girls hugged me when I'm a guy." Yuki said, as he finally pulled away from Shampoo's now loosen grip, as he took a few steps away from her, and looked his sister over, before turning around to look at Cologne, "Did something happen to Shampoo while I was gone?"

Cologne said, cutting into the conversation, "That might be true, Shampoo,"

* * *

Awhile later

Ranma had just left the Neko Café, while taking a free bowl of ramen to eat on the way home, Cologne had Mouse put up the 'Closed' sign so no more customers would come in, while she talked with Yuki and Shampoo, and give Yuki information on what had happened while he was gone.

"So Shampoo's got the Nekonanichaun curse now," Yuki asked as he glanced over at his sister with disbelieving look on his face, as he tried to access everything that he had heard up to this point, "Because she failed in either killing girl-type Ranma or bringing in Ranma's male form as her husband?"

"Great-grandmother, why is Shampoo now able to touch me when I'm a guy?" Yuki said a while later, once the restaurant was closed for the night, and the four Amazons were gathered in a back room. "She never was before, so why now?"

"It would seem we've found yet ___another_ way to counteract the Junishi curse without even realizing it," Cologne said, with a thoughtful look on her features, as she looked between her two grandchildren as they sat in front of her, "Yuki's Nezumi curse must ___recognize_ Shampoo's Neko curse, and thus will no longer activate when Shampoo comes in contact with Yuki."

"What do you mean, great-grandmother?" Shampoo said, as she sat next to Yuki with her arm around her brother, while Mousse reluctantly sat on the opposite side of Yuki, "What has ___my_ curse have to do with anything? Why didn't Yuki change when I hugged him?"

"That's easy to explain, Shampoo, it's your Jusenkyo curse. You were cursed to turn into the cat by the pool." Cologne said, as she looked at the three teens as they sat around her, "Yuki's curse won't activate if he's hugged by someone who's cursed to turn into an animal of the Zodiac."

"But there's no cat in the Zodiac, grandma," Yuki said as he pulled away from Shampoo and stood up, "So ___how_ can Shampoo's curse be counted as being part of the Zodiac?"

"In your birth family there ___is_ a cat in the Zodiac. It's something Yuki's birth mother told me just days before she died." Cologne said as she looked Yuki over for a moment before continuing, once she saw the questioning looks on the teens faces, "In her husbands family, out of the twelve ___chosen_ children born cursed to transform into the animals of the Zodiac, there will ___always_ be a ___thirteenth_ child who will be cursed to turn into a cat."

"All three of you have heard the legends of how the Chinese Zodiac was created. Then," Cologne said, the continued when all three nodded their heads in agreement, "you've also heard of another legend dealing with a Cat almost becoming a part of the Zodiac if it wasn't for the Rat's interference."

"So, even though Shampoo received her cat curse through different means," Yuki asked, as realization hit him, as he looked over at his sister, who was staring back at him. "That'd mean that..."

"It would seem that Yuki's Nezumi curse must be registering Shampoo as a member of the Zodiac simply because she turns into a cat?" Mousse said, finishing what Yuki had left unspoken,

"Shampoo can now hug Yuki-kun when he's in ___both_ forms!" Shampoo squealed as she launched herself at Yuki and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, "I'm so happy!"

"Shampoo let go!" Yuki cried as he struggled to get free of his sisters grip, as his hands clutched at her arms to try "Can't breath!"

"Sorry!" Shampoo cried as she immediately released Yuki who dropped the floor taking in deep breaths of air.

"So does this mean if I touched Yuki when he's in girl form, he won't change?" Mousse asked as he adjusted his glasses on his head, as he turned to gaze at the two siblings.

"Don't be ___stupid_ Mousse, There's no ___duck_ in the Chinese Zodiac," Shampoo snapped, as she turned and glared at the bespectacled boy in irritation, "so Yuki will ___still_ change if you hugged him when he's a girl."

"Don't get your hopes up too soon kids," Cologne said as a thoughtful look appeared on her wizened features as she watched the younger Amazons interact, "We'll have find a way to test this out, and see if it's just a fluke."

"What do you mean great grandmother?" Yuki asked as he turned his gaze onto the older woman.

"All we know is that you won't change because of Shampoo's cat curse, Yuki, but who knows if it'll work for anyone else who has a Zodiac animal based Jusenkyo curse," Cologne said, as a wily smile appeared on her wizened features, as she glanced at the three teens standing around her, "We might have solved the problem of you finding a potential spouse in the tribe.

* * *

Three Weeks Later

'_I can't believe I let myself be talked into this..._' Yuki thought unhappily, as he sat behind the cash register inside of the Neko Café, '_Should have known better to offer to help out around the restaurant while I'm in town._'

With an irritated sigh, Yuki went back to watching the cash register, while snatching glances at the back room, where Cologne had just enter ten minutes earlier with a girl who came in looking for work, while her two friends waited out front with steaming bowls of ramen in front of them.

'_Those two are late coming back again,_' Yuki thought irritably as he glanced up at a nearby digital wall clock for the tenth time in the past fifteen minutes.

Today was supposed to be his day off, and he'd been on his way out of the restaurant when Cologne called him over and told him to watch the restaurant until whenever Shampoo or Mousse came back from deliveries.

Cologne had been busy in the kitchen preparing orders, while Mousse and Shampoo were both still out making deliveries, when three girls entered the restaurant.

Two of the girls took seats at one of the tables while the third one came up to the counter with a nervous expression on her features, as she talked to Cologne about an help wanted ad she had seen in a newspaper for the restaurant.

After talking with the girl for a few moments, Cologne led her to the back room so they could talk more in private, leaving Yuki in charge while she was gone.

'_I wonder who that girl was,_' Yuki wondered silently to himself, as he twirled a pen in his fingers, checking the kitchen to make sure everything was okay, before moving to the front room to deal with the latest customers to enter the restaurant, '_Haven't seen her or her friends around before..._'

While his grandmother was busy in the back, Yuki went to the kitchen and filled up a couple of glasses of water from the cooler, and carried them out on a tray, stopping long enough to pick up his notepad and walked over to the table where the girls friends were seated looking through the menu that was already available on the table.

"Hi, I'm Yuki and I'll be your waiter today," Yuki asked pleasantly, setting the glasses on the table in front of both girls before he held up his notepad and had a pen ready to take down their orders, while "what can I get for you today?"

The first girl was tall, with long blonde hair that she let hang loosely down her back, and gave off an aura of a fighter. While the other girl with her black hair and violet eyes... There was something about that one that just plain creeped him out as he waited for them to make their orders.

"I'd like to order the barbequed pork ramen," the brunette said as she put down her menu to look up at Yuki, her violet eyes staring at him intently.

"I'll take the beef ramen," the blonde said.

"Okay," Yuki said as he wrote down the orders, "Can I get you anything to drink while you wait?"

"Diet Sprite, please" The brunette said.

"Coca Cola." The blonde said.

"I'll be right back with your orders then." Yuki said, smiling a bit before he turned around to head back to the kitchen.

Nodding his head, Yuki went back towards the kitchen, and started preparing the orders. Pulling open the refrigerator he brought out the pork and beef and set them both to cooking on the grill, while lightly seasoning it with ingredients from the cupboards.

While the meat was cooking, Yuki quickly pulled out more glasses, and filled them with the soda, and brought them to the girls, then quickly returned to the kitchen to remove the meat from the grill.

Turning to a pot filled with ramen that Cologne had left simmering on the stove while she was in the back room, Yuki then scooped out some ramen into two bowls, then placed the pork and beef on top of the ramen, adding some extra sauce to it, and carried it out to the waiting girls.

"Enjoy your meal while you wait for your friend," Yuki said cheerfully as he placed the steaming bowls in front of both girls, then stepped away from the table and headed back to the counter.

As he took a seat on the stool behind the cash register, he saw that the brunette was still staring at him with a thoughtful look on her face, as she ate her ramen, while talking with her companion.

'_What's her problem? She's been watching me ever since I came to their table, and it's not the **usual** looks girls give me,_' Yuki thought to himself as he quickly turned his gaze away as a chill ran down his body when the brunette's gaze met his for a moment, just as another customer came up to the cash register to pay their bill, '_There's something weird about her that give me the creeps..._'

* * *

"Mmmm... This ramen tastes great! If that Yuki fellow's the one who cooked this up, I wouldn't mind coming back for more." Arisa Uotani asked in between bites of her ramen with her chopsticks, murmuring softly in pleasure as she ate, "So, what do you think of the food here, Saki?"

"We should come her more often. I could get used to this kind of food, if it's served every day," Saki Hanajima said, nodding her head in agreement as she sampled her own dish, as a rare smile of pleasure appeared on her features as she swallowed her food, before a serious look appeared on her features, as she turned her gaze back towards Yuki who was now seated back at the cash register, "___Especially_ if Torhu manages to get a job working here."

"All right. What is it, Saki?" Arisa asked, with chopsticks half raised to her mouth when she finally noticed the look that appeared on her friends face, and knew that something must be up, "The ___only_ time you have ___that_ look on your face, is when something's going on. Did something happen?"

"There is something... ___off_ about that boy's wave length, Arisa," Saki said as she cast a contemplating look towards where Yuki was sitting, "I haven't sensed something like this from ___anyone_ before."

"Like what?" Arisa asked as she finally raised the chopsticks to her mouth and chewed on the ramen while waiting for the other girls answer.

"When I look at Yuki, I can see what appears to be ___three_ wave's that seem to be in flux with each other," Saki said simply, as she took a sip from her soda before continuing, "when there should only be one wave present."

"Is something like that possible?" Arisa asked, not really understanding much of what Saki was talking about, but knew it had to be important enough for the psychic to be distracted as she was, "So it's a good thing or a bad thing?"

"One wave is blue, something that all boys have that, while the second wave was red, signifying that ___he's_ also a girl, though I don't see how," Saki said, as she ticked off her fingers as she started describing what she sensed from Yuki, "And for some strange reason, the third wave reminds me of a rat."

"A girl and a rat?" Arisa asked, confusion filling her voice, as she took another look at Yuki, squinting her eyes a bit as if she was trying to see what Saki had seen but gave up after a few seconds, "Well I'll be the first to admit that he does look a bit like a girl, especially with that long hair, but what's the deal with the rat thing?"

"With the exception of the female wave I'm seeing," Saki said, as she continued her appraisal of Yuki who was now talking with one of the customers who had come to the counter to pay their bill, "his aura almost matches that of one of our classmate, Kyo Sohma."

"Carrot top? So you mean he could be related to the Sohma's, Saki?" Arisa asked, surprise filling her voice as she heard the news, before confusion set in, and her brows furrowed, "But didn't the old lady call him her grandson?"

"It may be just a coincidence then," Saki said as she shrugged her shoulders in dismissal, but her eyes remained fixated on Yuki

* * *

"Great-grandmother! Yuki! We're back!" Shampoo called out as she reentered the restaurant with Mousse right behind her, spouting a few new bruises on his frame.

"Finally! Where have you guys been?" Yuki exclaimed as he stood up from his chair to glower at the other two Amazons, as first Shampoo then Mousse entered, "The two of you should have been back a long time ago. There's more deliveries to be made."

"Still trying to get Shampoo's affections, huh Mousse?" Yuki asked teasingly as the bespectacled boy walked past the cash register with the delivery box, "When will you ever learn?"

"Shut up Yuki," Mousse countered as he walked past Yuki, leaving the delivery box next to the side of the counter, and started to head upstairs.

Just as Mousse set one foot on the first step, the door to the backroom opened up, to show Cologne standing there, cane in hand as she looked the trio over for a moment.

"I ___thought_ I heard Shampoo's voice out here." Cologne said with a disapproving frown on her features, before gesturing to them to follow her back into the room, "all of you come in here, I would like you to meet someone. Since the two of you are back, I can make the introductions."

"Wonder what's going on?" Mousse said as he turned on his heel and came back down the stairs, and followed the other teens into the back room.

"'Introductions'?" Shampoo asked, giving Yuki a confused look, which he only shrugged off as he got off of the stool and started walking towards the back door. "To who?"

"Grandma has a girl in there, who's asking for work. I haven't seen her around before," Yuki simply said, giving his sister a slight shrug of his shoulders as they reached the door and pushed it open, "Grams must have given her the job, if she's introducing her to us."

As the trio walked into the room, they see that Cologne was already sitting in a chair facing a girl with long brown hair hanging down her back.

"...when would you like to start?" Cologne was asking the girl, barely glancing up when the other teens entered the kitchen, "Since we're going to be closing up soon for the day, there is no real hurry for you to start working until tomorrow."

"Great-grandmother, what's going on?" Shampoo asked as she stepped into the room with the boys, moving out of the way as Mousse stepped into the room so he could shut the door behind them, "Who's she?"

"Since the three of you have been slacking off in your duties helping around the restaurant," Cologne said as she turned towards the trio, smiling a bit at the surprised looks on each teens faces, as she motioned towards the girl to stand up, "I decided that it was time to hire more help, and I've just hired this young lady here to help out in the restaurant."

As the girl stood up and turned to face them, Yuki couldn't help but stare at her as he saw her face, her brown eyes staring at them with a worried look in them.

"**_Take a picture, Yuki, it'll last longer..._**" Mousse said in Chinese, smiling a bit as he fully saw the look on the younger boys face, since he had his glasses on. "**_You'd think you're in love with her the way you're staring at her._**"

"**_Shut up, Mousse,_**" Yuki said, a slight blush crept up to his cheeks at his friends comment, as he turned his gaze away from the newcomer to glare at the blind boy, "**_I don't know what your talking about!_**"

Before Mousse could respond, both boys let out yelps of pain when Cologne suddenly whacked both boys over the heads with her staff.

"Mousse, Yuki stop being rude," Cologne chided as she glared at both boys who were now nursing the bruises on their heads, "It's impolite to speak in our native tongue around guests, if you have something to say, say it in Japanese."

"Sorry grandma," Yuki said, as he rubbed the bruise on his head, "It won't happen again."

"**_Yeah, sorry old ha-____OWW!_**" Mousse now found himself planted face first on the tile floor with a larger bump forming on his head.

"What was that, Mousse?" Cologne asked, her calm tone betraying the anger in it, as she glared down at the Amazon.

"I meant, sorry revered elder!" Mousse exclaimed irritably as he sat up, rubbing a hand over the newest bump forming on his head, as he glared at the older woman.

"Better, duck boy." Cologne said, giving Mousse a cold, smug look before turning back towards the girl and smiled warmly at her, "Now, why don't you introduce yourself, dearie?"

"Um... Hi," Torhu said a bit nervously, as she bowed for a second, before standing back up straight a moment later, "my name is Torhu Honda."

"Torhu I would like you to meet my great granddaughter, Shampoo," Cologne said, making introductions while pointing at each boy as she said their names, "my great grandson, Yuki, and their... ___friend_, Mousse."

"It's nice to meet all of you, and I hope we can be friends." Torhu said a bit timidly as she bowed again, before standing back up to look at the teens standing in front of her.

"Nihao, Torhu!" Shampoo said excitedly as she bounded over to Torhu, smiling as she gave the other girl a warm hug, before finally releasing her, "Welcome to Neko Café, Shampoo hope you enjoy working here."

"Umm, okay, Shampoo." Torhu said as she looked the other girl over once she was released before looking at the two boys as they stepped forward.

"Hi, Torhu," Mousse said, smiling a bit at the new girl, as he adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and squinted at her from behind his large frames, reaching a hand to her, "Welcome to the Neko Café, and I hope you enjoy working here."

"Nice to meet you," Yuki said.

**_

To Be Continued...

_**

**Author's Notes:**

Quick question. Can anyone tell me the name of Ayame's clothing store? I still haven't gotten the remaining two dvd's yet, so I don't know, ___though_ I already know that his assistant's name is 'Mine'. (I'm hopeless, I know... -'-;) But I'm keeping up by reading Tokyo Pop's release of the manga.

I ___know_ this isn't where Torhu usually works, but I thought about how Torhu should be the ___first_ of the Fruits Basket gang that Yuki should meet, and since he doesn't go to school (yet), I thought it might be fun if she worked at the Cat Café, instead of cleaning Momiji's dad's office building.

Besides, this ___is_ supposed to be a Alternate Universe fic as well as a Crossover fic, ___so_ a ___few/lot_ of things ___can_ be changed about the worlds of Fruits Basket and Ranma ½. '

This chapter would take place a few months after Kyoko Honda's death, and just before Torhu would have met Shigure (and whoever ___might_ be living with him since Yuki's not in their lives)

I have a request though. You guys, _**PLEASE**_ stop asking me about updating my ___OTHER_ stories in the reviews? What I mean is, that I ___LIKE_ reading about how much you like my stories.

If the review you write is ___ONLY_ asking me to update one of my other the others, then couldn't you just ask it in a review ___ONLY_ for the story you want updated. Please? (gives puppy dog eyed look to all of her readers)

I'll update the other stories in my own time, but asking me to update them in a review meant for a story that has nothing to do with the other ones, isn't going to help me hurry up and update. Especially when I have idea's for other stories running through my mind, that I want to write.

I have a question for everyone. Currently, since Yuki's no longer in the lives of the Fruits Basket crew, ___WHO_ should take his place living at Shigure's house, with Kyo, Torhu, and Shigure:  
1. Hatsuharu (1)  
2. Kagura (0)  
3. Momiji (0)  
4. Nobody, let it remain with just the three of them (0)  
---------------  
Date Completed: July 4, 2005  
Date Updated: July 9, 2006


End file.
